A gadfly consumer group known as The Center for Science in the Public Interest views government regulation in the same way that some people see salt. If a little is good, then a lot must be better. And speaking of salt, the CSPI desperately wants the Food and Drug Administration to limit public consumption of the stuff by unscrewing the cap from its regulatory shaker and pouring the contents on the processed food industry. The FDA held a public hearing Thursday to consider the group’s proposals.

Dietary salt, as every sentient American knows, is just fine in small doses. But excessive amounts can contribute to an array of health problems, from high blood pressure to heart disease. Americans tend to eat too much salt anyway, mostly through their consumption of processed foods, which account for three quarters of the typical American’s salt intake, according to Uncle Sam’s official dietary guidelines.

The obvious responses to this problem are: Urge Americans to eat less processed food, steer them toward more healthy processed foods, or expand the FDA’s role as the nation’s kitchen cop. The CSPI, to no one’s surprise, likes option three. Among other things, the CSPI wants the FDA to expand labeling requirements, reclassify salt (currently considered a safe substance) as a food additive, and limit the amount of salt in processed foods.

These proposals are not new. The CSPI has badgered and sued the FDA over its salt regulation for years, and in 1981, it even asked the agency to require warning labels on salt packages weighing at least half an ounce. Though the agency denied that request, it has adopted a collection of labeling standards. At the moment, for instance, sodium content must be listed on processed food labels. And manufacturers that make low-sodium products are allowed to label them accordingly. The idea is, at once, to inform consumers and give food manufacturers incentives to cut down on the salt.

The FDA has been reluctant to reclassify salt as a potentially dangerous additive, however. It considered doing so back in 1982, but decided to avoid the resulting bureaucratic headaches, which would have been substantial given the many different technical effects for which manufacturers use salt. Enhancing flavor, it seems, is only one of them.

Those bureaucratic challenges haven’t disappeared in the ensuing years, according to the FDA. Yet here comes the CSPI to renew its demand that Uncle Sam regulate us all to perfect health. The group’s perseverance and its passion for public well-being are admirable, but there’s a limit to how much government agencies should do to save people from themselves. When it comes to the salt content of processed foods, we’re there — or nearly so.

The vast majority of Americans know that processed foods aren’t nutritionally faultless. They know that eating too much salt is unhealthy. And no one who can read can claim ignorance of the sodium content of any processed food item. It’s right there on the label. Perhaps the public would be better served by warning labels on particularly salty foods, as the CSPI would like. But expecting the government to reduce the knowable salt content of processed foods? No way. There are plenty of good reasons for expanding the federal government’s size, cost and responsibilities. But saving consumers the onerous task of reading and thinking about labels isn’t one of them.