As part of Burger King's nutritional makeover, the company founded the "BK Positive Steps" program. One of the first “positive steps” to BK's menu arrived this spring with the introduction of six new kids meals—each limited to 600 milligrams of sodium per meal. Advertised to kids under 12, Quirantes said unlike other quiet but healthy changes, this will be a visible campaign.

But while these reductions are indeed positive steps, they do little to satisfy the countless factors and intangibles shrouding the issue. Most participants agreed more scientific research and technology is necessary before food companies can really step-up proactivity. Shortage of money too, remains a deterrent. Though salt is both plentiful and cheap, industry reps argue ongoing taste tests and product reformulations associated with its usage is not only tedious but causes for huge expenditures. "It costs $75,000 to alter a product,” said Quirantes. "And a year from inception to bring products to the market."

Meanwhile, trouble funding and administering surveys that accurately capture public salt consumption remains a dilemma for researchers. Without this data, health professionals have few ways of determining the extent (or specifics) of the problem beyond proven historical generalities and old-fashioned speculation. A similar concern exists with restaurant chefs who, as Elizabeth Johnson, vice president of public affairs for the National Restaurant Association pointed out, often don't know the sodium levels in the food they prepare. Johnson said educating chefs is essential to reduction pursuits, but admitted reaching all cooks, including those at smaller, "mom and pop" establishments seems unrealistic.

Then, of course there is the vital role of the body and that big machine called the brain. Dr. Paul Breslin, a researcher at Monell Chemical Senses Center and professor at Rutgers University Department of Nutritional Sciences, said there are only two ways to ultimately alter salt consumption: food manipulation or changing our behaviors. However, like with most of life's quandaries, modifying behavior in lasting and meaningful ways usually requires first understanding the origin of the problem. To that end, Bresler said our addiction to salt remains a bit of a mystery. “We still don't understand how the salt taste mechanism works. We know the human body has no way of storing sodium but how it detects salt at all is unknown,” Breslin concluded before adding, “There are just some things science has yet to answer.”