Milling & Baking News - October 29, 2013 - 20

Food Ingredient Solutions® 

sodium reduction. Companies in
Mexico in some instances are stating
the sodium content, as well as fat and
calorie content, on the front of packages. Companies in that country also
are prominently displaying sodium
information on the back of packages.

Success in sodium reduction has
taken place in the United Kingdom. In
the year 2000, people there daily ate on
average 9.5 grams of salt, including 3.7
grams of sodium. By June 2012 those
figures were down to 8.1 grams of salt,
including 3.2 grams of sodium.

Industries, said the amount of sodium reduction achieved
in a food product may depend on the product's flavor
profile. A more complex flavor profile, such as that
found in an English muffin or multigrain bagel, may
allow formulators to achieve sodium reduction of
more than 30% and perhaps up to 50%. Reductions
that high may be more difficult to achieve in white
bread, which has a simpler flavor profile.
Sea salt
Salona low sodium sea salt from ICL Food
Specialties, St. Louis, may replace table salt
or sodium chloride.
"Salona, evaporated from the waters of
the Dead Sea in Israel, is a natural mineral-potassium magnesium chloride,"
said Barbara Bufe Heidolph,
principal, food phosphates, at
ICL Food Specialties.
Salona has 1.7 grams
of sodium per 100 grams
compared to table salt at
39 grams of sodium per 100
grams. Salona may maintain
saltiness with minimal or no bitterness, and it may aid in the maintenance of water activity, a food safety factor for baked foods,
Ms. Heidolph said.

NU-TEK FOOD SCIENCE

Particle size
Soda-Lo is made from salt and thus functions like salt and may be labeled
as salt in many countries, including the United States, said Nancy Gaul, senior category manager, health and wellness, for Tate & Lyle, P.L.C. A patented
technology turns standard salt crystals into free-flowing crystalline microspheres, which maximizes the surface area covered by the salt relative to
volume.
Soda-Lo has been shown to reduce sodium in bread products by 40%, said
Judy Turner, director of food applications for Tate & Lyle.
"We've been very successful in bread," Ms. Turner said.
Likewise, sodium in the breadings of meat products may be reduced by 40%.
Microwaving the product should not alter the percentage, Ms. Turner said.
Soda-Lo may be used to replace sodium in baked foods.
"In the matrix itself, we can replace the added sodium," Ms. Turner said.
The amount of sodium in the matrix is recipe-specific, she said.
Soda-Lo also may reduce the need for salt on topical applications and
achieve a 35% sodium reduction. Such topical applications include crackers,
potato chips and french fries, Ms. Turner said.
Corn tortillas are lower in sodium by nature, Ms. Turner said, but the sodium content in flour tortillas is more similar to the content in bread. Using
Soda-Lo in flour tortillas may lower sodium content by up to 40%, just like
in bread. MBN

20 / October 29, 2013 Milling & Baking News

Food formulators in the United
Kingdom took a "stealth" approach
in which a slow and steady reduction in sodium lessened the flavor
impact on consumers, according to
Kudos Blends, Ltd., Cleobury Mortimer, England.
Supermarkets drove sodium reduction in the United Kingdom,
said Dinnie Jordan, director and
founder of Kudos Blends.
"Manufacturers had to comply
with supermarket requirements in
order to supply their products," she
said. "This then sparked competition between supermarkets, which
helped to encourage manufacturers
to drive down their sodium levels.
"In the U.K. there is a need to reduce sodium, and many food companies want to comply, whereas in
the U.S. there are no real pressures
to reduce sodium other than by those
companies looking to take a proactive approach to help consumers."
Minimum benchmarks were set
for major food categories in the
United Kingdom. Benchmarks, for
example, were set for scones (300
mg of sodium per 100 grams), white
bread (400 mg), pancakes (300 mg),
tortillas (400 mg) and cake (200 mg).
"These are voluntary guidelines
set by the government, which are
backed by supermarkets," Ms. Jordan said. "This then increased the
pressure on manufacturers to reduce the sodium content in line
with the guidelines."
U.S. supermarket shoppers are
aware of sodium. According to the
2013 Food & Health Survey from the
International Food Information Council Foundation, Washington, 6 out of 10
Americans are trying to limit or avoid
sodium entirely for reasons such as
preventing a future health condition,
mentioned by 69% of respondents,
and to help reduce the risk of heart
disease, mentioned by 64%.
In the United States, the food industry continues to quietly strive
for sodium reduction.
"Overall I think the marketplace
is trying to get ahead of the game
when it comes to sodium and fat,"
Mr. McKeown said. "I think the industry quite honestly is trying to
quietly produce more healthy products. Low sodium will be among
that group of products that continues to grow, I believe." MBN
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - October 29, 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Milling & Baking News - October 29, 2013