South Africa is seen as a trailblazer in the global battle to reduce salt intake, and tabled legislation to this effect in 2012. However, three years later, there is still confusion on how salt intake will be monitored in the country.
South Africa’s salt-limiting legislation is the result of international political pressure and local research supporting a salt reduction strategy. The legislation means that bread, as the biggest contributor to overall salt intake, will have to be manufactured with less salt. It will also see the sodium content reduced in margarine, soups, stock cubes and a range of other processed foods including meat products, biscuits and crackers, instant noodles and sauces.
Several sectors of the food industry opposed the draft legislation during the public consultation process. They argued that it would create technological difficulties, particularly when baking bread. It was found that the proposed levels for 2016 of 400mg sodium for 100g bread are achievable, with no adverse effects on taste, appearance or consumer acceptance.
Francois Eksteen of bakery and confectionery ingredients supplier Zeelandia also believes that bakeries can achieve this goal, while keeping consumers satisfied with the look and taste of salt reduced products.
‘There are three important elements to consider when reducing salt,’ Eksteen says. ‘The first is processing and product quality as salt plays an important role in the fermentation process and also strengthens the gluten network.’
Lowering salt content without changing any of the other ingredients, leads to a shorter leavening and reduced kneading time for bread. Less salt also affects the yeast and can cause bread to rise less, compared to products with a higher salt content. This has possible implications on the look and feel of the finished product. A solution could be to knead the lower-salt dough at a slower pace, giving the ingredients more time to react with each other, and increasing leavening time.
The second is taste perception. ‘This is the biggest challenge. Sodium is very difficult to replace, because its taste sensation on the human tongue cannot be matched. Less salt changes the taste of bread and it will be less salty than what consumers are used to. If there is an element of bitterness to the product for instance rye or malt bread, this will be more noticeable when salt is reduced, as salt conceals or reduces any bitter tastes.
‘Salt also acts as a preservative on shelf life and safety. When reducing salt in bread, the dough’s water activity increases. This leads to faster microbial growth, causing shelf life to be shorter. For bread that is sold in retail outlets and stays on shelves for more than a few days, this can become an issue. One possible solution for dealing with increased water activity is to bake the bread longer,’ Eksteen explains.
To this end, Zeelandia has developed Salto Plus to help bakers maintain quality and taste of their bread while reducing the salt content. This bread improver contains enzymes that compensate for the lower salt content.
In terms of taste, South Africa should look at the success of salt reduction in bread in the Netherlands. The salt content (ratio salt/flour) of bread was reduced in two steps over the course of four years, from two per cent to 1.5 per cent. This gradual change allowed consumers to get used to the taste of lower salt products.
Food industry addresses health
The World Health Organization states that cardiovascular disease is now responsible for more than half of all deaths across Europe, and estimates that up to 80 per cent of these fatalities are preventable. The challenge of sodium reduction continues. By Heidi Cullip
Excessive intake of salt is linked to hypertension, a major cause of strokes. Despite significant public health efforts, consumers remain reluctant to reduce salt consumption. The reason? Quite simply, taste. In spite of a desire to eat more healthily, nutrition is still not the main consideration for a majority of consumers when choosing what to eat.
In order to improve public understanding on the issue, food manufacturers are making significant progress in reducing the salt content of their products. There is still work to be done to reconcile the competing demands of delivering healthy options people need, with the taste they require.
Research at Tate & Lyle has shown that partnering in the food industry can be an effective tool to achieve this. The Open Innovation team drew on this collaborative approach, working with Eminate Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of The UK’s University of Nottingham, to license in a novel patented technology to help address the issue of high sodium consumption.
Using new spray drying technology to create hollow crystalline microspheres of salt, it was possible to maximise surface area relative to volume. As a result, Soda-Lo Salt Microspheres provide the clean salt taste but offer manufacturers the potential to achieve up to 50 per cent less sodium in products.
Consumers look to convenience foods and snacks such as potato chips and sandwiches for sustenance. It is the responsibility of food ingredient providers to help food manufacturers ensure that the products they deliver taste great, whilst featuring the best nutritional profile.
About the author: Heidi Cullip is marketing manager at Tate & Lyle, the global provider of ingredients and solutions to the food and beverage industries.
Box:
Zeelandia – www.zeelandia.com
Tate & Lyle – www.tateandlyle.com
