Food manufacturers have been under pressure to cut salt in their products, as up to 80% of salt intake comes from processed foods. While salt is a vital nutrient, most people consume far more than the World Health Organization’s recommended five gram daily maximum to control blood pressure, with average intakes of 10-12 grams across Western Europe.

One of the most common approaches to salt reduction has been replacing some of the ordinary salt (sodium chloride) in a product with potassium chloride, but suppliers say the ingredient’s chemical-sounding name may be off-putting for consumers.

Supplier NuTek Food Science has even filed a petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration asking it to allow companies to use the term ‘potassium salt’ on ingredient lists. NuTek uses label-friendly carriers for its potassium chloride, such as rice flour and wheat flour, which also help tackle its metallic aftertaste. The company suggests that calling it ‘potassium salt’ would help demystify the ingredient for consumers. In addition, it could encourage more companies to reduce sodium in their foods.

Clean label salt replacement

However, potassium chloride is far from the only game in town, and many ingredient suppliers have innovated to cut salt in ways that keep labels consumer-friendly.

Israeli company Salt of the Earth, for example, is primarily a salt supplier, but it has embraced the salt reduction trend. Among its products is a microsalt that dissolves more quickly on the tongue than ordinary salt, which allows companies to use less while producing the same perception of saltiness. Recently, it has also developed a product called Mediterranean Umami, which combines sea salt with umami-rich ingredients like tomato concentrate, mushroom and seaweed extracts to play up hearty, savoury tastes in condiments, soups and sauces while cutting salt.

Tate & Lyle has gone a slightly different ‘micro’ route with its Soda-Lo Salt Microspheres. These are free-flowing spheres made of salt, so they taste like salt and, crucially, can be labelled as salt. They are smaller than regular salt crystals, and also are hollow, which maximises their surface area relative to their volume, thereby delivering the same salty flavour with up to 50% less salt.

Researchers have also found potential in other approaches including uneven dispersal of salt crystals in bread and cereals to enhance salty taste perception, or encapsulating small salt particles to slow flavour release.

Another interesting solution comes from Swedish firm Salinity. Its Saltwell product comes from an underwater reservoir in the Chilean Atacama Desert, wher the brine produces salt that is naturally rich in potassium chloride. Evaporated by wind and sun, the resulting product can be labelled as ‘sea salt’ but contains just 65% sodium chloride, and 35% potassium chloride. The company claims that the naturally occurring potassium lacks the metallic aftertaste associated with other potassium chloride-based salt replacers on the market.

Overcoming negative connotations around salt reduction

Clean label is one thing, but being able to reduce salt without adding to the ingredient list at all could be advantageous. While companies have been exploring different salt reduction strategies, many have been reluctant to tell consumers that they are reducing the salt in their products, fearing that some people will equate ‘less salt’ with ‘less flavour’.

Looking beyond the ingredients themselves, gradually reducing salt levels without using any salt replacers is another natural approach that many companies have taken. It works to shift consumer tastes for salt across a population, and is most effective when the whole food industry – or at least a whole food category – is moving at a similar pace, which may happen when companies are encouraged to meet incremental targets.

This approach can have significant success. In the UK, wher the government set voluntary targets in 2006, salt levels in breakfast cereals fell nearly 50% from 2004 to 2015 and average salt consumption declined about 11%.