Salt alternatives

We can’t do without flavours. We’ve programmed our brains to enjoy the mouthful of sensations brought together by the senses. And even if the basic flavours are enough, our adventurous palates seek more complex forms, including a mix of many spices, extracts and seasonings. Is it any wonder why flavour is a competitive industry?

Low sodium

But have we gone too far with flavourings? Needless to say, the fondness for salt in particular has been the cause of many health conditions. Because sodium content in salt is high – 40 per cent – international health organisations and governments around the world have called for a cutback on consumption of dietary salt to just 5 grams of salt per day.  In response, food manufacturers in many countries are working to meet FDA requirements. Hence, demand for salt alternatives is on the rise.

The latest innovation from Chr. Hansen is SaltLite^TM, an alternative specifically for cheese-making. Yes, who doesn’t like their cheese a bit on the salty side? This ingredient can help cheese manufacturers bring down the sodium content by up to 50 per cent without changing the qualities of the cheese. That’s huge, considering that, as the company’s enzyme marketing manager Timothy Wallace explains, lowering sodium content in cheese can adversely affect taste, texture, and shelf life.  

In time for Salt Awareness Week in March, DSM also announced their product, the salt reduction toolbox.  Designed for all types of savoury food products, it consists of different flavours that can be mixed and matched to meet salt preference, umami goodness and simply provide a wholesome meat or vegetable flavour: Gistex ®  HUM LS,  Maxarome ®  Pure, Maxarome ®  Select, Multirome ®  LS, YE All Natural and the Maxagusto ™.   These culinary ingredients are 100 per cent Halal and Kosher certified.

The idea of giving the food manufacturer freedom to pair flavours makes this toolbox quite interesting.  

According to Tate & Lyle, it uses a patent-pending technology to turn standard salt crystals into free-flowing crystalline microspheres that become smaller, low-density crystals that can provide a salty taste maximizing surface area relative to volume.  You can’t get any more natural than this product, being salt itself. Therefore it has no after taste which is usually associated with salt substitutes. The new salt product is called SODA-LO™ Salt Microspheres. The product was launched in late 2012, and has been recognised as one of the best innovative products at Food Ingredients South America.