NEW YORK President Obama Friday named New York City health commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden to head up the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
During Frieden’s seven years as the city’s health commissioner, he locked horns often with New York’s restaurant community as he campaigned to ban smoking in public places, eliminate the use of trans fats in menu items and mandate menu labeling for some chain restaurants operating in the city.
All three initiatives were passed by the City Council.
Most recently, Frieden had been advocating the reduction of salt in restaurant and packaged food items, asserting that it contributes to high blood pressure, which can lead to strokes and heart attacks. He had met with representatives of several large restaurant chains and manufacturers, urging them to reduce sodium levels in their food.
“High blood pressure causes hundreds of thousands of strokes, heart attacks and early deaths each year in this country,” Frieden said. “By cutting the amount of salt in processed and restaurant food, we can reduce health care costs and prevent needless suffering.”
One of Frieden’s tasks as director of the CDC will be to focus on the problems of food borne illness in the United States. He is expected to take office next month.
"Dr. Frieden is an expert in preparedness and response to health emergencies, and has been at the forefront of the fight against heart disease, cancer and obesity, infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and AIDS, and in the establishment of electronic health records,” Obama said in a statement. “Dr. Frieden has been a leader in the fight for health care reform, and his experiences confronting public health challenges in our country and abroad will be essential in this new role."
Contact Paul Frumkin at [email protected].
