Achieving a Realistic Salty Taste

Regular salt is made up of sodium chloride. Replacing the sodium with potassium makes potassium chloride — a go-to salt replacement to help achieve sodium reduction in processed foods.

Instead of blending sodium chloride and potassium chloride and having two distinct particles in a reduced sodium ingredient, Cargill’s patent-pending technology combines and agglomerates the ingredients. The result is FlakeSelect™, a compacted flake particle that is roughly 50 percent sodium chloride and 50 percent potassium chloride. This unique ingredient provides the functionality many food formulators need to have in the salt they use,

The process used to make FlakeSelect™ physically modifies crystal structure to maximize performance of ingredients. The resulting particles are homogeneous, low in bulk density, highly soluble, and provide superior adherence for topical applications as compared to dry, blended or granulated products.

“We believe the FlakeSelect™ process delivers a more realistic ‘salty’ taste,” said Julie Schuette, Cargill senior food technologist. “When these flakes hit your tongue, they dissolve more quickly than a standard salt crystal. So you get great salt impact but you’re actually swallowing less salt.”

In turn, FlakeSelect™ products can be used to help reduce sodium in a wide variety of food products. FlakeSelect™ is available in four particle sizes — Extra Coarse, Coarse, Fine Flake and Flour — for use in various applications including crackers, bakery toppings, pretzels, meat rubs, seasoning blends, mixes, dressings, cheese, cereal, snacks, sauces and marinades.

Cargill’s FlakeSelect™ is produced at the Cargill Salt facility in Watkins Glen, N.Y.; the only facility in the United States that makes this type of product.