There are 950 to 1,350 milligrams of sodium per serving in the eight new South Beach Diet frozen entrees and 1,260 to 1,530 milligrams in the four refrigerated wraps - 50 percent to 100 percent more in some cases than comparable Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine and Weight Watchers products.
"That's very high," said cardiologist Salah Amer, board president of the American Heart Association.
This puts you at risk of high blood pressure."
Hypertension directly increases a person's risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke, according to the heart association.
Agatston's position: Obesity is the overriding threat, and his goal is to help people lose weight.
That's the key, he said, to reversing the so-called metabolic syndrome, a group of symptoms including above-normal weight, blood sugar and blood pressure that are considered a harbinger of heart disease and diabetes.
"The big health problem in the country today is diabetes and pre-diabetes obesity," Agatston said.
Obesity is only part of the picture where high blood pressure is concerned, said Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University and one of the nation's leading authorities on diet and health.
Agriculture Department guidelines, part of the newly revamped food pyramid, recommend a daily sodium intake of no more than 2,300 milligrams.
"If you have one of these meals a day and the rest of your meals have no salt, that's OK," Amer said.
Normal people have breakfast, lunch and dinner."
Indeed, if you ate a bowl of raisin bran and milk for breakfast (400 milligrams), grabbed a six-inch turkey sub and a small bag of chips for lunch (1,200 milligrams), and snacked on a single-serving bag of microwave popcorn (320 milligrams), having Kraft's South Beach Diet Caprese-style chicken (1,350 milligrams) for dinner would put your sodium intake for the day at 3,270 milligrams - more than 40 percent over the limit.