Meat+Poultry - January 2022 - 39

years and older consume 50% more than the
recommended limit for sodium. When it comes
to children aged 2 to 13 years, more than 95%
exceed the recommended limits of sodium for
their age groups. This could have profound
impacts on later health outcomes.
The fact sheet instructs consumers to
check labels and choose foods that are lower
in sodium by looking at the Daily Value. It
states that 5% DV or less is a low source of
sodium and 20% DV or more is a high source.
While it is nearly impossible for some meat
and poultry products to reach very low
numbers, as sodium is as much a performance
ingredient as it is a flavor potentiator, it is
possible to make ingredient swaps to make
the labels more desirable.
The FDA's plan recognizes that successful
sodium reduction needs to take place broadly
across the overall food supply. In fact, the
new FDA guidance is still above the Dietary
Guidelines' recommended limit of 2,300 mg
per day for those 14 and older. The targets
in the guidance are designed to support
decreasing average daily sodium intake by
about 12% - from about 3,400 mg to 3,000
mg per day. This reduction is expected to
result in tens of thousands of fewer cases of
heart disease and stroke and billions saved
in healthcare costs. The FDA believes these
targets are feasible to achieve in two and a
half years and cover both manufactured foods
and foodservice.
TOOLBOX OF INGREDIENTS
As Potineni stated, in most meat and poultry
applications, you can only cut out so much
sodium chloride before the product is
negatively impacted. That's why formulators
need to explore all ingredients that
contribute sodium and make cuts and swaps
where possible. One of the most common
swaps is replacing sodium chloride with
potassium chloride.
" Potassium chloride, which can now
be labeled as potassium salt, is a good
replacement for sodium chloride, " said Tom
Katen, senior technical services specialist,
Cargill Salt, Minneapolis. " Larger sodium
chloride swaps, up to 50%, are possible in more
seasoned products, while blander applications,
like deli poultry meat, might only allow for a
30% sodium chloride replacement. "
Both beef jerky and pepperoni pizza
topping contain high levels of sodium but
are also packed with flavors and spices. This
makes it possible to achieve as much as a 50%
reduction in sodium using a combination of
potassium salt and sodium chloride.
" Even at these high rates, consumers
won't taste the potassium ion amidst all the
other flavors in the product, " Katen said. " This
sodium reduction solution has the added
benefit of increasing the product's potassium
content, in this case, by nearly 300%. "
Replacing a portion of the sodium chloride
in the formula with potassium salt requires
no changes to production processes. And
because potassium salt has similar physical
and functional properties to sodium chloride,
it can be used as a 1:1 replacement making
reformulation easy.
" Sometimes we can use formulation tricks
to enable deeper sodium reductions, " Katen
said. " For example, in chicken nuggets, we've
found we can use up to 100% potassium
salt inside the nugget if we use real salt in
the breading. The topical salt in the batter
and breading delivers the flavor experience
consumers expect and masks the off-notes
from the potassium salt in the substrate. This
approach enables brands to cut salt by as much
as 50%, without impacting consumer likeability
or processing yields. "
Mark Zoske, founder and chief executive
officer, SaltWorks, Woodinville, Wash., said,
" Nothing can come close to the real taste
of natural sea salt. The trace minerals in
all-natural sea salt deliver subtle nuances
of flavor, making it more flavorful and
complex than refined salt. With premium
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