Compacting Technology for Sodium Reduction
Flakeselect® can help enable sodium reduction in foods through compacting technology
The food industry continues to make nutritional improvements to product formulations as pressure to lower sodium levels in food products continues to mount from consumers, government, and public health and scientific organizations. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans1 recommends that everyone aged 2 years and up should consume less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium each day. Most adults in the United States (U.S.) consume sodium at levels greater than the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Sodium reduction educational activities and policies have recently gained greater attention through the actions of New York City and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Nutrition guidelines are emerging from different organizations that encourage food companies to reduce sodium and calories while increasing fiber and whole grains, and other nutrients.
The task of reducing sodium in foods presents a challenge to the food processing industry because sodium chloride (salt) plays one or more important functional roles in products. Depending on the target percentage of sodium reduction, the reformulation balancing act can be challenging as a specific level of salt provides a consumer-desired salty taste. However, salt not only provides a salty taste, it also enhances other flavors. By taking salt out, certain measures must be taken to rebalance and compensate for those lost flavors.
When reducing sodium, all aspects of products should be considered and the task should be carefully executed to avoid any adverse effects in product quality, consumer acceptance, and food safety. Sodium reduction can reduce the appeal of foods; however, studies have shown that small, incremental decreases in sodium could be acceptable to the human palate. Stealth sodium reduction or gradual sodium reduction, has shown great success.
FlakeSelect® is a portfolio of products that can help food manufacturers reduce sodium in snacks, baked goods and processed foods and maintain the great salty taste that consumers expect.
Food companies interested in improving flavor need various flake ‘cuts’ of salts or salt alternatives, including fine and flour cuts for all of their applications. For example, snacks products need salts that won’t stratify (i.e., form layers) on topical applications. With FlakeSelect®, Cargill can help customers address those types of needs – and many others – to reformulate existing products or develop new ones.
The FlakeSelect® process physically modifies crystal structure to increase functionality of singular or multiple ingredients. The FlakeSelect® process creates ingredient(s) that have:
• Greater surface area that contributes to better blendability, solubility, and adherence
• Optimal granulation with four precise screen cuts to perform in a wide variety of food applications
• Agglomerated particles that offer even distribution of base components joined in a single crystal
FlakeSelect® is available in four varieties, which offer unique flake product functionality:
• FlakeSelect® KCl (potassium chloride)
• FlakeSelect® KCl/Salt
• FlakeSelect® KCl/Sea Salt
• FlakeSelect® Sea Salt
Each variety is available in the following cuts: Extra Coarse, Coarse, Fine Flake and Flour.
1http://journals.lww.com/jphmp/Fulltext/2014/01001/Sodium_Reduction___An_Important_Public_Health.1.aspx