Forum Food - Ingredients & Functional Foods

Salt Replacers and Salt Reducers

Salt Replacers
Dr. Lohmann’s Premix Salt Replacers
Pansalt
Zalt and Zalt ND

Salt Reducers
Koji-Aji
Super YE
Salt Reducer N100
Salt Reducer N200

Following various campaigns in Europe, it is known and accepted that excessive salt consumption leads to high blood pressure or is not good for health.

It has been published that around 18 million people in the UK have high blood pressure, or hypertension. People with high blood pressure are three times more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke than people with normal blood pressure.

In the UK, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has launched public health campaigns focusing in three areas:
• Make the consumer aware of the levels of salt in prepared food
• Increase pressure in the food industry to reduce salt in food
• Reduce use of salt at the table

It is agreed that salt is crucial for our health, but currently we eat in the UK, on average, over 9g a day, which is more than what we need. The FSA aims to reduce average salt consumption for adults to no more than 6g by 2010 – with lower levels for babies and children:

Age Group Recommended salt consumption

0-6 month	<	1 g / day
7-12 months	<	1 g / day
1-3 years	<	2 g / day
4-6 years	<	3 g / day
7-10 years	<	5 g / day
Adults	<	6 g / day

* These are maximum levels, and they advise parents to aim for less.
* Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/food_matters

As 65-85% of the salt consumed in the UK is already in the food, and not added during cooking or at the table, the pressure has increased for the food industry to reduce salt in their products. In March 2006 the FSA published new (voluntary) salt reduction targets for food manufacturers and retailers to reduce salt levels by 2010.

The FSA's aim is to encourage the reduction of salt levels in 85 food categories that contribute most to the amount of salt in diets of UK consumers. These include: bread, breakfast cereals, cheese, ready-meals, cakes, biscuits , pastries, bacon and other foods.

More information
More about the Food Standard Agency’s salt campaign can be found on www.salt.gov.uk, while the targets published in March 2006 are found at www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/salttargetsapril06.pdf.

Since the campaign started in 2004, a number of companies and supermarkets have been advertising their efforts to reduce salt in their products, including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Marks & Spencer, Co-op, Kellogg’s, Heinz, Unilever, Northern Foods. For more information: www.salt.gov.uk/industry_activity.html.

Functions of salt

Although when talking about salt reduction, the focus tends to be on flavour; however, salt has other functions in food, such as technical (helps processing), preservation, texturisation, cost reduction (cheap bulking agent), water retention, nutritional, etc.

In this technical memo we focus in the flavour aspects of salt reduction and in one alternative for texture improvement.

Strategies for salt reduction

Our palates get accustomed to a certain level of salt, but they re-adjust after a few weeks of a lower-salt diet. In addition, the less salt we eat, the more salt we can taste in our food after the adaptation period.

It is also known that we are able to taste better new nuances of taste when salt is reduced in a product.

Therefore, the first strategy is obviously the reduction of salt without any replacement. Some studies demonstrate that in many products it is possible to reduce salt by 10% without any replacement before the consumer notices any difference.

After salt reduction, the following strategies are used:

1. Salt replacers
2. Flavour enhancers
3. Flavouring, spices, etc
4. Combinations of the above

In terms of other aspects of salt reduction:
5. Preservatives
6. Texturants
7. Process modifications

Salt Replacers

Often, the easiest way to replace salt is the replacement with a salt replacer, normally around 1:1 substitution.

At Forum Products Ltd, we have a range of salt replacers available, so that you can offer the best solution to your formulation and labelling requirements.

Dr Lohmann's
• Premix Salt Replacer
• 50% less sodium than common salt
• No After Taste
• Versatile
• Easy Replacement 1:1

Pansalt
• 43% less sodium than common salt
• No after taste
• Versatile – suitable for all applications
• Provides strong salt impact flavour
• Dual health benefits with great salt taste (sodium reduction and increased sodium excretion from body)
• Patented
• Contains: Potassium, Magnesium, Lysine
• Easy replacement 1:1

Zalt
• 50% less sodium than common salt
• No after taste
• Friendly labelling: sea salt, flavouring
• No added potassium chloride
• Best when applied to delicate recipes or dairy based products.
• Easy replacement 1:1

Zalt ND
• 50% less sodium than common salt
• No after taste
• Friendly labelling: Sea salt, salt, potassium chloride, flavouring
• Provides strong salt impact flavour
• Versatile – suitable for all applications
• Easy replacement 1:1

Flavour Enhancers

Two types of flavour enhancement can be used in sodium reduction projects:

1. Salt reducers: enhance the flavour of salt specifically, with little or no impact on other flavours present in the food product. Again, an easier when reviewing formulations. Some salt is still required in the formulation, but the level can be reduced.

2. Flavour enhancers: provide specific or overall flavour enhancement.
• By improving the overall taste of a food, it is often possible to reduce its salt content used.
• The real target of the Health campaigns is sodium reduction and not salt reduction. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the sodium content coming from all components used. Some types of flavour enhancers contain a very high content of sodium. A very good benefit about the PTX and Kokumi range of flavour enhancers from Forum is that they are very low in sodium

At Forum Products Ltd., we have a range of flavour enhancers available, including:

- MSG
- Nucleotides
- Yeast Extracts
- Amino Acids
- Kokumi (Very low sodium range)
- A range of natural flavour enhancers from PTX (Very low sodium)

For more information, see Technical Memo on Kokumi, Flavour Enhancement and PTX.

Summary

In summary, salt has been a key ingredient used in the food industry for a number of functions, including flavour at a very low cost.

Health issues linked to the high level of salt consumed nowadays requires the food industry to reduce salt levels in their products.

There are a number of solutions now available for the food industry, suitable for a range of applications. Their results can be optimised by using a combination of them.

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Forum Products Ltd - Food Division
41-51 Brighton Road
Redhill
Surrey RH1 6YS
United Kingdom
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