By Steffen Weck, Food Business Resource
LENEXA, Kan. (Business Wire EON) August 11, 2008 --
By Steffen Weck, Food
Business Resource
Many of our favorite foods – French fries,
bread, and potato chips come immediately to mind –
contain a special, essential ingredient: salt. Also known as sodium
chloride, this abundant mineral not only acts as a flavor enhancer and
preservative, it plays a crucial role in our bodies when consumed in
moderation. Sodium helps keep calcium and other minerals soluble in the
blood, it stimulates the adrenal glands, and it aids muscle activity.
But it’s the “consumed
in moderation” part that has many people
worried. Sodium intake in the U.S. is at an all-time high. The
departments of Agriculture and Health & Human Services published a set
of Dietary Guidelines for Americans in 2006, recommending a sodium
intake that doesn’t exceed 2300mg per day.
Some studies estimate that the average person in the U.S. takes in
around 4000mg per day, almost double the safe amount. Too much salt in a
person’s diet can lead to serious health
problems like high blood pressure, which can eventually lead to
cardiovascular and kidney diseases.
The majority of sodium (77%) in the average U.S. diet comes from eating
prepared or processed foods that contain it. The AMA’s
Dietary Guidelines show that the remainder of sodium in a person’s
diet is made up of naturally occurring sodium and that which has been
added directly by the consumer. The AMA now recommends a 50% reduction
in sodium in processed foods, fast food products, and restaurant meals
be achieved over the next decade, in order to reduce the incidence of
stroke and adverse heart issues.
For food manufacturers, data like this means big changes are on the
horizon. Similar to the guidelines recently established for trans-fat
usage in New York, industry-wide sodium reduction is likely to be the
next goal for officials concerned with the health of the general public.
Food manufacturers who can look ahead for ways to adapt to these
inevitable changes will find themselves placed more strategically for
continued success.
One of a Kind
The sodium reduction trend won’t be news to
most; industry-wide sodium awareness has been proven via a variety of
lower-sodium products introduced to market in years past. Some of the
efforts of the early responders, however, have been met with mixed
results.
This is largely because reducing sodium isn’t
as easy as holding back a little salt. One of the biggest hurdles facing
food manufacturers looking for a successful sodium reduction solution is
as simple as it is frustrating: there’s
nothing like salt.
No single ingredient can be used to replace the functionality of salt in
food. Breads, for example, use sodium as a functional ingredient to
manage the consistency, taste, texture, and growth of the dough. If the
salt is reduced or removed entirely, the bread is drastically changed –
that is, if it can be produced at all. Most consumers don’t
realize that many other essential ingredients in the foods they eat
require sodium-containing compounds, such as monosodium glutamate (MSG),
baking soda, baking powder, disodium phosphate, sodium alginate, and
sodium nitrate or nitrite.
Perhaps even more formidable a challenge for food manufacturers looking
for sodium reduction solutions lies with the taste buds of the consumer.
Consumers are simply accustomed to a lot of salt in their food. Last
year, a leading food manufacturer reduced the sodium in some of their
most popular products, and consumers did not react favorably to the
change in recipe. Instead of growing accustomed to the milder flavor of
the products, consumers either passed up the manufacturer’s
foray into the lowered sodium category or simply added table salt to
their now “low sodium”
food.
Manufacturers of salt substitutes or light salts have attacked the
problem from a different angle, developing mixtures of table salt and
other compounds. Many salt substitutes contain potassium chloride,
however; while small amounts of dietary potassium can lessen some of the
harm of excess sodium, too much supplemental potassium can be harmful if
a consumer has kidney problems or takes medication for congestive heart
failure or high blood pressure that can cause potassium retention.
Finding The Solution
Because industry-wide sodium reduction is such a formidable challenge –
and such a high priority – it will be
necessary for food manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, food
technologist and engineers to combine their efforts to find innovative
ways to tackle the issue.
Advanced refrigerated mixing equipment that cools bread dough (and
therefore retards yeast activity) as it mixes may help bread
manufacturers adapt to strict limits on sodium use, for example. Other
cutting-edge dough mixing equipment already being utilized allows a food
manufacturer to more tightly control critical dough and batter
processing conditions. Innovations in the tools food manufacturers use
to produce their product will be critical as the industry moves into an
increasingly health-conscious time.
Formulation modifications and substitution research from ingredient
suppliers will be essential, as well. Some suppliers have recently made
intriguing forays into zero-sodium leavening agents; others have
continued to develop sodium reduction systems that claim to reduce
sodium levels by 33% in prepared foods, frozen meals, meat and poultry,
soups, sauces and dressings, and salted snacks without sacrificing
consumer taste preference. Unfortunately, it’s
unlikely that there will be a magic bullet solution that works for all
food products across the entire industry. It’s
highly likely that considerable interaction with all of the stakeholders
(consumers, suppliers, manufacturers) will have to occur in order to
understand how far the limits can be pushed and what sacrifices will
have to be made.
The Price of Innovation
Of course, engineering new technology and developing ingredient
replacement innovation comes at a cost. Without free use of sodium, food
manufacturers, largely without exception, will be in need of capital
investment. While there is no hard data on the potential cost to the
food manufacturing industry when it comes to future sodium strictures,
we can compare the situation to the effects of recent trans-fat
reduction laws.
An industry-leading fast food chain, for example, conducted extensive
research to find a replacement for the trans-fat laden oil they had used
for years. Delays in the process incurred staggering costs; limited
supplies of alternative oils, negative consumer feedback, and legal
issues (the company agreed to pay $10.5 million to settle two
class-action lawsuits charging that it inadequately publicized its
February 2003 delay of a plan to reduce TFAs by nearly half) all
contributed to the hefty price tag on reducing trans-fats in their
product.
The TFA reduction laws meant big changes for every sector of the
industry; shortening suppliers were required to install dedicated
processing lines for non-trans shortenings, and processors had to learn
how to deal with replacement ingredients that were much more
temperamental during warmer and colder seasons. Depending on the kind of
rules put in place for sodium reduction, it is safe to assume that
everyone, from the R&D department staffer to the co-packer, from the
product engineer to the marketing team, will find themselves faced with
new challenges.
New Challenges, New Opportunities
While tackling a brand new set of limitations may make some food
manufacturers weary, there is good news. Not only are there plenty of
promising innovations being tested or used already, the challenges the
industry faces may lead to exciting opportunities. As the public in
general becomes more health and flavor savvy, partially replacing salts
with herbs and other spices may lead to wide consumer acceptance. A
public concerned with their health may be more willing to accept foods
that taste a little different from those they have been used to in the
past.
Changing a product’s pH, utilizing salt
mimetics, and developing equipment that can sidestep the need for
extraneous sodium during the manufacturing process are all ways in which
food manufacturers can explore and conquer the sodium-reduction issue.
Additionally, sensitivity levels of individuals should be taken into
consideration when engaging in consumer product testing. Every
individual has a different taste perception –
an exhaustive tasting process will yield a much clearer picture about
consumer tolerance for lower-sodium products.
Food manufacturers need not fear this impending industry-wide shift.
Embracing the challenge of low-sodium manufacturing is likely to lead to
innovation in the industry. Lowering sodium levels can contribute
positively to both the health of the consumer and the ability of the
food manufacturer to adapt to an ever-changing industry.
Sources:
- AMA Press Release June 13, 2006.
- Sodium: Are you getting too much? ©
1998-2008 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER).
- McDonald's cites short supply of new oils as delay in trans-fat
reduction continues by Richard Martin. Nation's Restaurant News, May
30, 2005.
Release Summary:
Food Business Resource's Steffen Weck discuses the nature potential
solutions to the problem of reducing sodium in our diets.
Keyword Tags:
food, food manufacturing, food trends, health, innovation, low sodium,
product innovation, recent trends in food processing, research and
development, salt, sea salt, sodium
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