Innovation in sodium reduction is speeding up.
Kansas City Consumers think that increased salt intake is the fault of others rather than themselves, according to a global poll conducted by Tokyo’s Ajinomoto Group. The SALTS (sodium alternatives and long-term solution) survey was carried out in seven international marketplaces in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific to find out how consumers feel about sodium and to see where collaborations and resources may be developed to lower overall sodium intake.
According to the survey, most consumers are aware of the health advantages of cutting back on sodium, which include improved longevity, sickness avoidance, and maintenance of health. Although they are aware of it, they do not believe that their use of sodium affects them directly, which emphasizes the necessity for manufacturers and retailers to confront the public health issue head-on.
It also pertains to public health. The Biden administration unveiled proposals to enable all customers to make and have access to healthy choices at the virtual White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in late September. To assist in reducing the amount of sodium in the food supply beyond the initial targets published in 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration was asked to issue revised, voluntary salt reduction targets.
In order to encourage sodium reduction, the FDA will also suggest amending the regulations to allow producers to utilize salt alternatives in standardized foods. In keeping with the objectives of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the FDA’s voluntarysodium objectives.
According to the SALTS poll, 64% of consumers are aware that consuming too much sodium is unhealthy, but just 37% really monitor their sodium intake. They expressed a preference for high-sodium foods should not be sold in grocery stores. This makes logical on paper. It is inevitable that behavior will alter if something is unavailable. In actuality, taking high-sodium goods off store shelves would not make customers happy. The poll reaffirmed the consumer preference for taste over all other factors when making dietary decisions, and the widespread perception that low-sodium foods are flavorless and boring.
“Food and beverage companies, national governments, and health professionals must work together to successfully drive sodium reduction, with the ultimate goal being to encourage diets that are delicious and nutritious.”
A technology toolkit
To help, suppliers provide a range of ingredient options. For instance, Ajinomoto advises producers to use monosodium glutamate (MSG), a spice that mixes sodium with glutamate—the most prevalent amino acid in nature—to increase the umami flavor of food systems. Umami is a taste that enhances savory flavors and gives food depth; MSG is the purest form of this taste. Because it is two-thirds less sodium than table salt and can sometimes enhance flavor even more, it helps reduce sodium intake at a minimal expense.
“This presents an opportunity,” Ms. Rains stated. If food manufacturers can create nutrient-dense foods that taste good and are reasonably priced, customers will buy them, which will encourage them to produce more.
“Sodium reduction can be a challenge in meat and poultry products as salt plays a number of functional roles in these applications, influencing everything from flavor and yield to microbial control,” stated Jordan Timm, research and development lead for salt at Cargill, Minneapolis.
One component that Cargill sells is made up of small, multifaceted crystals. Less is more in this instance due to the huge surface area and reduced bulk density when compared to typical cube-shaped granulated salt.
According to Ms. Timm, “this shape enables stronger adherence and faster dissolution.” “This special structure means that less salt is needed to achieve the same salty flavor when used topically.”
Another popular strategy for salt reduction is to replace part of the sodium chloride with potassium chloride. Ingredient declarations may refer to potassium chloride as potassium salt.
According to Ms. Timm, “we’ve found that brands can reduce salt by up to 50% in certain applications.” “This is due to the fact that potassium salt has many of the same uses as salt.”
Adding potassium to food is an additional benefit of utilizing potassium salt. One underutilized vitamin that has health benefits is potassium, which can counteract the effect of sodium on blood pressure.
“Our in-house research reveals that customers like it as well, particularly when combined with sea salt,” Ms. Timm stated. Consumers will actively seek out the product when they see potassium salt and sea salt listed together on the ingredient label because they believe the combination is healthier than either one of the components alone.
“We have assisted consumers in lowering the sodium content of grilled chicken fillets by 26% without compromising the consumers’ general enjoyment and acceptance of the product. We can use potassium salt in place of sodium chloride 1:1 without affecting taste, texture, food safety, or other functionalities because the two salts are so similar. We confirmed that the reduced-sodium product received the same level of customer acceptance as the full-salt control by using a consumer sensory panel.
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Marketing Operations Manager Linda Call of NuTek Natural Ingredients in St. Louis Park, Minn., concurred that potassium salt is a good substitute for sodium salt. The problem is that although potassium salt tastes salty, it can also have an odd, bitter, and metallic flavor.
“Without the use of bitter blockers, flavor modulators, or artificial additives, our sodium reduction technology eliminates the bitter metallic off-flavors through an inventive and minimal washing and drying process,” Ms. Call stated. “This allows product developers to drastically lower the sodium content and raise the potassium content without adversely affecting the final product’s flavor, processing, quality, or food safety.”
The uses of potassium and sodium salts are comparable. It can be added directly to comminuted meat emulsions, batters, breadings, and blended meat substitutes, as well as used in tumble and injection marinades for meat and poultry applications.
“We have successfully combined potassium salt with culinary salts like pink Himalayan, sea salt, and kosher salt into a single crystal in recent years thanks to our extended technology,” Ms. Call stated. “This offers a distinctive innovation for the category and creates new opportunities for the final product’s marketing.”
An ingredient from Wixon, St. Francis, Wis., contains potassium chloride, sodium chloride, and an unidentified flavor modifier. The latter gives customers the desired salty impression while eliminating metallic aftertastes.
“The system with lower sodium content is specifically intended for use in the meat and poultry industry,” stated Zak Otto, the director of Wixon’s protein research and development group. “Depending on the application, our product can reduce up to 50% while replacing salt 1:1.”
Sodium builds up.
Applications involving meat and poultry have many sources of salt in addition to sodium chloride. It is frequently possible to achieve the desired salt reduction in the finished product by making small adjustments here and there.Ms. Timm stated that it’s critical to take into account all sodium sources when preparing frozen meals. For instance, there is salt in the patty and the gravy of a chicken burger.
“There are several sources of sodium in food, such as phosphate ingredients found in breading, marinades, brines, and batters,” stated Amr Shaheed, technical service manager for food applications at Innophos in Cranbury, New Jersey. “An effective way to reduce sodium content without sacrificing flavor or texture is to carefully select low-sodium or sodium-free phosphates.”
He recommended replacing the sodium-containing leavening ingredient in the breading of chicken items like nuggets and strips with one based on calcium. Additionally, Innophos provides a potassium phosphate blend that can be used in chicken brines and meat marinades in place of sodium tripolyphosphate.
Potassium can be substituted for salt in a number of functional components offered by Corbion, located in Lenexa, Kansas. Antimicrobials like potassium lactate are examples of this.”The antimicrobial ingredient may result in a sodium reduction of up to 100%,” stated Garrett McCoy, senior manager of research, development, and applications at Corbion, located in Lenexa, Kansas.
“Many antimicrobials in meat are buffered closer to meat pH levels (above the isoelectric point) to improve processing attributes while still ensuring microbial safety and shelf life,” said Michael Cropp, technical service associate at Kemin Food Technologies in Des Moines, Iowa. However, sodium can normally be a carrier in the buffering process. By substituting potassium-based salts for sodium salts in different antibacterial formulations, food processors can guarantee that food safety and quality regulations are fulfilled together with nutritional guidelines.
No matter how potassium or sodium salt is used, the ingredient label statement for dry vinegar and buffered vinegar remains the same, according to Mr. Cropp. The levels of nutrient-dense sodium could be reduced, though.He stated, “And that’s what the consumer is looking for.”Additionally, Kemin now provides a range of functional proteins that allow processors to lower sodium levels without sacrificing quality or yield in meat and poultry applications.
“A patented process enables the functional proteins to increase their water-holding capacity, thereby decreasing the importance of salt in product formulations,” Mr. Cropp stated. “Most meat and poultry applications that come under the category of further processed/enhanced boneless meat items often don’t require a label change. In the rare instances where a label update is necessary, it typically just has to include the protein’s species (beef, hog, chicken, turkey, etc.) and, if it isn’t already on the label, the word “water.”
Cultured sugar, an antibacterial that improves flavor without increasing sodium, is another product that Corbion provides. According to Mr. McCoy, it has been demonstrated to preserve flavor in meat products with 20% less sodium, allowing a front-of-pack claim to the nutritional advantages.
Tastes and taste enhancers help lower sodium intake by improving salt perception. Usually, they are just listed as natural or artificial taste in ingredient declarations. This kind of flavor technology can be added to batters, breadings, marinades, and even sausages and burgers.
“With our flavor and ingredient technology solutions, we can rebalance the perception of sodium holistically while preserving its functionality,” stated Luiz Antonio Dias Ferreira, savory principle flavorist at Nourish IFF in South Brunswick, NJ. We establish the perception of salt content in meat and poultry applications in this way. With the help of our sodium reduction technologies, applications can reduce salt by up to 30% without sacrificing flavor or usefulness.