Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
high sodium levels can lead to increased blood pressure - a major risk factor for
cardiovascular disease (CVD) and an increasing likelihood of strokes. It is
reported that over 80% of the salt intake for people in the US, UK and Ireland
comes from processed foods and so the issue of sodium reduction remains high on
the agenda. Government initiatives to reduce salt consumption by the population
are in place; for example in the UK, the Food Standards Agency has issued salt
content targets for processed foods (FSA 2006).
Various methods to reduce salt from a fl avour perspective are used, but these
need to be balanced against the other functional properties of salt in meat products
- water binding and antimicrobial activity. These methods are as follows:
•
Gradual reduction of salt content by a stepwise reduction over time. This is the
simplest method of all and depends on the consumer learning to un-like salt
and its fl avour, mouthfeel and lingering taste. The effect may be compensated
by an increase in other fl avours, in particular peppery and spicy fl avours which
overwhelm the taste receptors in the mouth. Addition of a small amount of acid
in a formulation also assists.
•
Partial replacement of the sodium chloride by potassium chloride to reduce the
sodium content. However, the potassium ion gives a less salty fl avour than the
sodium ion and too high a level of potassium chloride produces a noticeable
bitter metallic fl avour. This fl avour is commonly masked by bitter blockers or
masking agents such as the amino acid
L
-lysine hydrochloride.
•
Replacement of sodium chloride by sea salt or mineral salt, which contain
mixtures of sodium chloride, potassium chloride and other chlorides. This can
reduce the sodium content but can also produce a bitter, metallic fl avour.
•
Reduction of the salt content can be compensated by the inclusion of yeast
extracts - a blend of equal proportions of an enhancing/high nucleotide yeast
extract, a savoury yeast extract and a meaty yeast extract is found to boost the
overall fl avour.
No single method is better than another in reducing the salt content and a
combination of the various methods is usually employed. Work to further reduce
salt and sodium looks set to continue in the future, with a lower particle size of the
salt used being one possible successful method.
13.7.2 Replacement of hydrolysed vegetable protein (HVP)
The use of HVP has declined signifi cantly in the UK since the 1990s since the
discovery in 2000 that most acid HVP contained the carcinogenic chloropropanol
3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) and its derivative 1,3-dichloro-2-
propanol (1,3-DCP). High levels of 3-MCPD have also been found in soy sauce
and other foods where chloride and fat are heated together. Production methods to
switch from acid hydrolysis to slower fermentation methods to manufacture both
HVP and soya sauces have been effective in reducing chloropropanol to below
detectable levels. HVP manufacturers now remove nearly all the chloropropanol
during manufacture using acid hydrolysis and have signifi cantly improved the
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