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The Sodium Reduction Challenge

Health Directives, Product Solutions & Formulation Tactics

by Jill Frank, CFS

Public & Private Health Directives
The directive to reduce sodium is coming from within companies, as well as from public sources. Many countries, even cities, have established directives to reduce consumption, and consumer groups have weighed in. Just recently, the USDA published new regulations regarding snacks and entrees that reduce the sodium content allowed in the U.S. National School Lunch Program.

Company strategies to reduce the sodium and salt content of their products are wide and varied, and include the following:

• Just removing or reducing sodium.
• Replacing part or all of their sodium with alternate salts, such as sea salt or potassium chloride.
• Reducing the salt in tandem with the use of flavor/taste enhancers to reduce the off flavors that may result from sodium reduction.
• Gradually reducing the salt content over time to slowly wean the consumer from the flavor.

Options for Formulators
Sodium chloride, or salt, is approximately 39% sodium. A partial or direct replacement of salt with an alternative such as potassium chloride or sea salt can produce a reduction in sodium with comparable flavor.

Sea salts have other minerals present that reduce the level of sodium, and some can be used as a one-to-one replacement in existing systems. Ocean’s Flavor Sea Salts offers a natural sea salt that can provide a clean label with sodium content reduction. Red Sea Salt from A+S Biotech can be used in cereals, meat and sausage products and baked goods. LomaSalt® is a product line by Dr. Paul Lohmann®, and can be used across a wide spectrum of applications, from toppings to salt replacements to use in meats, cheeses and breads.

Some ingredient suppliers blend potassium chloride with salt or sea salt, which works for providing the salty flavor but masks the bitter notes of the potassium chloride if used by itself. Nu-Tek Salt offers a few reduced sodium sea salt blends that can be used as a 1:1 replacement. Their products are applicable for a wide range of food categories. Ocean’s Flavor Sea Salts blends sea salts with potassium chloride to produce a product with up to 60% less sodium than regular salt.