What the Food Industry Needs to Know About Sodium Reduction ?

Sodium is an important micronutrient, but the quantity we want is tiny. Three slices of bread or one teaspoon of flavourer will have it away, and likelihood is your daily sodium intake is way greater. over 90% of american citizens consume an excessive amount of sodium, which might cause hypertension, high pressure level, and increased risk of heart condition and stroke. Most of the surplus sodium comes from processed and packaged foods, therefore the food industry and food scientists continuously seek for ways to cut back sodium. a replacement paper from the University of Illinois provides a comprehensive review of scientific literature on sodium reduction strategies in food production. 

“Sodium overconsumption may be a huge health concern, and therefore the FDA has recommended sodium reduction in food since the 1980s, but we have not succeeded yet. 

While the unit volume of salt within the food supply has not increased, the quantity of sodium consumption has gone up, because we just consume plenty of food,” says Soo-Yeun Lee, professor within the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition (FSHN) at U of I and co-author on the paper. We only need around 450 milligrams (mg) of sodium per day, and also the recommended maximum amount is 2,300 mg, or 1,500 mg for those in danger for hypertension. 

But average consumption exceeds 3,000 to 3,500 mg per day – or 50% to 100% above the upper limit. 

quite 70% of our sodium intake comes from processed and packaged foods, primarily cured meats, bread, cheese, and soups. The researchers conducted a scoping review including primary studies, literature reviews, book chapters, and patents covering sodium reduction in food products. They focused on studies that included sensory data with human subjects, because palatability is important for consumer acceptance. “In this review, we checked out different food systems.

The way you'd reduce salt in a very solid system, sort of a topical application on snack foods, like salted peanuts or salted chips, would be very different from embedded application in semi-solid foods like cheese or bread. And in an exceedingly liquid system like soup, where it's completely dissolved, it might be really different within the way we could reduce salt yet provide the palatability it gives,” Lee states. “We're hoping this work will provide insight into the large choice of salt-reducing technologies that exist.

this may help food companies be more informed to use different strategies than what they need been doing,” she adds. The researchers identified five main strategies: Salt reduction, salt replacers, flavor modification, physical modification, and functional modification. “The most blatant one is to get rid of salt from the recipe, which may be a key component altogether of the strategies when sodium reduction is that the goal,” says Aubrey Dunteman, grad student in FSHN and lead author on the paper.

But it's impossible to completely eliminate sodium, because it's both sensory and functional properties. as an example, it's used for meat preservation and to create dough rise. 

“A lot of the studies we checked out combined over one method, like salt removal with salt replacers and flavor modification or salt removal and physical modification,” Dunteman says. 

Many studies used salt replacers like K-Dur 20, salt, or other chloride or acid salts. However, these substitutes tend to own a bitter taste, in order that they are often employed in combination with flavor modifications, like umami substances or bitter blockers. “Another method is physical modification. as an example, you'll encapsulate the salt crystals, which changes how the salt is dissolved within the mouth.

this could alter the saltiness perception with a discount within the amount of sodium necessary to make the salty taste. you'll also create an uneven distribution of the salt in a very product which will further help enhance the perceived saltiness of the food through taste contrast,” Dunteman explains.

“Finally, there's functional modification. as an example, you'll move far from a sodium-based preservative in cured meats, perhaps employing a celery-powder preservative rather than nitrate.” Functional modification is a smaller amount represented within the scoping review because this sort of sodium reduction research typically doesn't incorporate a sensory component as a main assessment method, Dunteman notes.

If consumers want to scale back their salt intake, the most effective strategy is to cook your own food and limit your consumption of processed and packaged foods. you'll also wean yourself off salt with practice, essentially last a “salt diet.” “If you're cooking reception, you'll intentionally reduce salt and you’ll appreciate the reduced saltiness perception as time goes on. 

People can accommodates the reduced salt level, but it’s a learning and adapting process. you'll be able to also add flavor enhancers like herbs and spices.