Baking & Snack - October 2020 - 38

SODIUM REDUCTION

"There are several ways to reduce sodium in
snacks, but some of them come with taste issues
that need to be dealt with," said Roger Lane, marketing manager, savory flavors, Sensient Flavors.

Size and shape matter
The most obvious place to reduce sodium is the
salt content of snacks. Removing, replacing or
reducing salt can compromise taste and turn consumers away from a favorite snack or cracker.
Finding that balance is imperative to prevent losses in sales.
"Salt really provides many unique functional
roles that no single other ingredient does," said
Janice Johnson, PhD, technical service for Cargill
Salt. "We understand salt pretty well. It's universal in that you can put salt in something, and you
know what the flavor profile is going to be."

REMOVING, REPLACING
OR REDUCING SALT
CAN COMPROMISE
TASTE AND TURN
CONSUMERS AWAY
FROM A FAVORITE
SNACK OR CRACKER.
When snack manufacturers try to reduce salt or
replace it, things can become complicated. There
are several strategies formulators can use to minimize flavor loss while trying to achieve a lower sodium target.
In some applications, salt - in a different form
- might be its own solution. It's all about choosing the right one for the product.
"Not all salt is created equal," said Mark Zoske,
founder and chief executive officer, SaltWorks.
"Choosing the right salt can actually improve the
flavor of food. The shape and texture of the salt
crystal can make an enormous difference in sodium content. For example, choosing flake salt
over a granular for a crunchy snack, like crackers,
allows the salt to adhere better to the food. The result is more flavor without using more salt."
A traditional sodium chloride particle typically
used in snacks is a cube shape. However, changing that shape or even the size of the particle can
have an impact on how the salty taste is perceived
by the tongue and brain of the consumer.

38 Baking & Snack October 2020 / www.bakingbusiness.com

ACHIEVING A RISE WITHOUT

SODIUM

Salt may be the obvious source of sodium,
but it certainly isn't the only source. Chemical
leavening ingredients like sodium bicarbonate
also contribute to that line on the Nutrition Facts
Panel. If formulators want to offset flavor loss
or another functionality of salt, swapping out
chemical leaveners can be another avenue to
sodium reduction.
"The most common way to reduce sodium is to
reduce salt content," said Amr Shaheed, technical
services and application development manager,
Innophos. "However, bakers should equally
focus on the other components, specifically the
leavening agents. Reformulating with lower
sodium leavening agents allows you to reduce
the total sodium without impacting the flavor of
the product."
To gain the same leavening functionality with
less sodium, formulators can fully or partially
replace sodium-based leavening acids with
calcium- and ammonium-based ones. Sodium
bicarbonate can be replaced with potassium
bicarbonate.
"It's not a 1-to-1 replacement, so you will
need about 20% more potassium bicarbonate to
provide similar functionality," Mr. Shaheed said.
Innophos offers is Cal-Rise Calcium Acid
Pyrophosphate leavening acid, which can reduce
sodium by as much as 35% when used to replace
SAPP 28. Levair is a leavening acid that only
contains 2,100 mg of sodium per 100 grams of
product, and Actif-8 is a blend of SALP and MCP
that contains about 1,350 mg of sodium per 100
grams. Mr. Shaheed recommended ammonium
phosphate as a sodium-free ingredient for lowmoisture snacks.
Unlike potassium replacements for salt,
potassium bicarbonate does not have an impact
on taste.
"In the case of replacing sodium bicarbonate,
happily there is no off-taste that's normally
associated with potassium salts," said Brian
Berube, business manager, performance
products/ARMEX, Church & Dwight.
Mr. Berube suggested that snack manufacturers
can also try natural non-chemical leavening
agents such as yeast and eggs but warned these
can also contain sodium.

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Baking & Snack - October 2020

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