After officials agreed on Wednesday to keep watch on salt intake in a national push for healthier eating habits, New York City has asked the chain eateries in the city to put a salt warning symbol on their menus.

The city Board of Health has voted unanimously to require chain eateries in the city to put salt-shaker emblems on their menus to denote that the dishes served have more than the recommended daily limit of 2,300 milligrams of sodium.

The decision has been appreciated by the public health advocates but was slammed as misguided by salt producers and restaurateurs. This is so far the first ever plan in the United States and further a series of novel nutritional efforts in the biggest city of US.

Health board member Dr. Deepthiman K. Gowda said, "This really represents, to me, the next step in allowing usable information for our community to make better health decisions".

Members of the board hope that the idea would spread to other locales and encourage eateries to cut down on their use of salt while preparing dishes.

Studies has shown that on average American consumes about 3,400 mg of salt each day, most of the salt intake is from processed and restaurant food. Overconsumption of sodium increases the risk of high blood pressure and heart diseases, which is among the leading cause of deaths in the nation.

The requirement starts from December 1 for an estimate 10% menu items at the New York City outlets of chains with at least 15 outlets nationwide. These eateries in total account for about 1/3 of the city's restaurant traffic, health officials said.