美式餐館丹尼斯菜單上大多數菜色含鹽量過高，食用該連鎖店的食物很可能導致身患高血壓、心髒病和血管堵塞的顧客病發的風險增加。有鑒于此，一名紐澤西州的男子，在美國非營利公眾利益科學中心(CSPI)的支持下，於23日對該餐廳發起集體訴訟。
該男子向紐澤西州米德爾塞克斯（Middlesex）縣的高等法院提出訴訟，要求丹尼斯在菜單上揭露所有菜色的食鹽或氯化鈉量，同時標示警示語。
美國政府衛生與公眾服務部（Department of Health and Human Services）和美國農業部（Department of Agriculture）於2005年提出美國成年人每天不食用多於2,300毫克，大約一茶匙食鹽的建議。但所有罹患高血壓，中老年以及黑人成年人每天不食用多於1,500毫克的鹽。
原告德班尼的多（Nick DeBenedetto）現年48歲，是一個紐澤西州庭騰福斯（Tinton FAlls）市的居民。他在紐澤西州東布朗斯維克（East Brunswick）市的丹尼斯餐館用餐多年。
一份完整的丹尼斯全餐含有一碗蛤蜊濃湯、一個香辣雞乳酪三明治、以及一份附菜加味薯條，共計含6,700毫克的鈉 -- 比一般70%的美國人在四天半中的建議食用量還高。
總部位於南卡羅來納州司巴爾坦博格（Spartanburg）的丹尼斯公司於23日發表了一項聲明，聲稱公眾利益科學中心提出的告訴「毫無意義且毫無根據」，並表示該公司「將全力打這場官司。」
丹尼斯曾經私底下和科學中心對鹽的相關使用問題進行協商，但談判最終在今年稍早夭折。此後不久，丹尼斯的確針對幾個菜色用鹽做小幅度的減量，如奶酪醬、蝦串、和兒童餐。但並未接受科學中心的建言，全面地減少或是披露用鹽量。
所有營養成份相關信息，包括菜單上菜色的鈉含量請上網參閲：http://www.dennys.com/LiveImages/enProductImage_690.pdf.
但該中心表示，光在網路上公佈食品的鈉含量是不夠的。該中心的法律部門主任加德納（Steve Gardner）說：「隱瞞其食品的重要事實 -- 即這些食品的鈉含量容易導致疾病的產生 -- 丹尼斯沒有對其顧客盡到該盡的責任，同時違反了紐澤西州和其他數州的法律。」
公眾利益科學中心辯稱，高鈉飲食是引起高血壓的一個主因，而這又是心髒病和心血管堵塞的主要元兇。這些心血管疾病則分別是美國第一和第三大死因。
這是公眾利益科學中心首度對丹尼斯餐飲公司提告。另外，該中心還請求美國食品和藥物管理局（Food and Drug Administration）將鹽視為食品添加劑以規範各類食品中鈉的用量。
Most meals at Denny's restaurants meals are dangerously high in salt, putting the chain's customers at greater risk of high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke, alleges a class action lawsuit filed Thursday by a New Jersey man with the support of the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, CSPI.
The lawsuit was filed in Superior Court of New Jersey in Middlesex County, and seeks to compel Denny's to disclose on menus the amount of table salt, or sodium chloride, in each of its meals and to place a notice on its menus warning about high sodium levels.
In 2005, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture recommended that adults in the United States should consume no more than 2,300 milligrams per day of sodium, about one teaspoon table salt, but all persons with hypertension, all middle-aged and older adults, and all blacks should consume no more than 1,500 mg/day of sodium.
The plaintiff, Nick DeBenedetto, 48, is a resident of Tinton Falls, New Jersey, who has eaten for many years at Denny's restaurants in East Brunswick and Brick, New Jersey.
A full meal at Denny's consisting of a bowl of clam chowder, a Spicy Buffalo Chicken Melt, and a side of seasoned fries contains 6,700 mg of sodium - more sodium than what 70 percent of Americans should consume in four and a half days.
From company headquarters in Spartanburg, South Carolina Denny's issued a statement Thursday calling the lawsuit filed by CSPI "frivolous and without merit," and saying the company "will fight it aggressively in court."
Denny's and CSPI had been in private negotiations over sodium, but those talks ended earlier this year. Shortly thereafter, the chain made small sodium reductions in a handful of items, like cheese sauce, shrimp skewers, and kids' meals, but the chain did not make the kind of broad sodium reductions or menu disclosures urged by CSPI.
All nutritional information, including sodium content of menu items, is available online at http://www.dennys.com/LiveImages/enProductImage_690.pdf.
But CSPI says posting the sodium content of its foods online is not good enough. "By concealing an important material fact about its products - namely, that that these foods have disease-promoting levels of sodium - Denny's is failing its responsibility to its customers and is in violation of the laws of New Jersey and several other states," said CSPI litigation director Steve Gardner.
Diets high in sodium are a major cause of high blood pressure, which in turn is a major cause of heart disease and stroke, the first- and third-leading causes of death in the United States, the CSPI argues.
This lawsuit is CSPI's first sodium-related lawsuit against a food company. Separately, the center has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to regulate salt as a food additive and to restrict sodium levels in various categories of food.
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