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MSG-free umami salt: Secret to natural sodium reduction
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Wednesday, 01 April, 2015, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Aliza Ravizki
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fiogf49gjkf0d Salt: The condiment we hate to love
Salt —you cannot live without it. Despite its reputation of late, humans need the right balance of salt to maintain a healthy metabolism; that’s what the latest research shows.
But with our taste buds and bodies at odds, many of us are guilty of overdoing it, ingesting more than we need. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends a daily salt intake of less than 5 gram per day, which translates to about 2,000 mg of sodium. While many people overconsume salt, the kitchen saltshaker is not typically the offender. Processed and restaurant foods are the main source of salt in our diets today, since manufacturers rely on salt to flavour and preserve their foods—often to a fault.
A worldwide agenda
Around the globe, salt consumption awareness has reached a new high, with WHO member states taking action to reduce the global population’s intake of salt by 30% by 2025.
Internationally, programmes abound, such as the EU’s Salt Reduction Framework and the US’s National Salt Reduction Initiative, as well as other local campaigns, including Switch the Salt and Cut the Salt, which, among other messages, highlight the high salt content in processed foods and restaurant meals.
If we can put a man on the moon, why cannot we develop a low-sodium ingredient?
The industry has made many attempts to offer low-sodium alternatives, but with little success. Low sodium solutions have been primarily centred on direct salt reduction and traditional flavour enhancers, such as MSG (Monosodium glutamate), nucleotides and yeast extracts. Salt substitutes have also been attempted, for example, using potassium chloride, which has its own inherent bitterness and texture problems, not to mention labeling challenges.
Letting our taste buds do the talking
Given all this, salt reduction sounds like a difficult goal for food manufacturers, with the threat of bland-tasting main dishes, snacks and soups—but, think again. What is it that consumers are craving? Consumers want flavour; they want foods that please the tongue without compromising on taste. They do not necessarily want salt, per se. When the low-fat craze hit a while back, manufacturers complied—with reduced fat, high sugar, high carb alternatives, which just redirected the health burden. But, taste is acquired, and adapting to new tastes is a long-term venture – and discerning customers express via their wallets. There is no bait and switch substitution when it comes to salt reduction as far as the health authorities and savvy consumers are concerned.
Umami, when less is more
Just when you may have thought that the industry has hit the wall in terms of technology and innovation, there is a new salt-reduction solution trending in the industry: leveraging umami as a flavour booster to complement salt. You probably already know about umami, the so-called “fifth taste,” which is present naturally in mushrooms, soy sauce, tomatoes, anchovies, olives and other boldly savoury foods. It is “a pleasant savoury taste… [that] blends well with other flavours to expand and round out flavours, as described by the Umami Information Center.
What gives umami prominence in culinary circles is that it has natural savoury flavour, making it an ideal substitute for the salty taste that satisfies consumer demand for low-sodium products. With Umami, food producers can leverage the dual benefit of boosting overall flavour in savoury recipes while cutting back on sodium.
So, umami is not MSG?
Ehud Zach, expert food technologist, explains, “MSG, which is processed by fermentation, is the salt form of glutamic acid. Labelled as E-621, it has a meaty taste.” Umami, on the other hand,” says Zach, “is a compound of free glutamic acid, other amino acids and ribonucleotides, typically found naturally in aged cheeses, peas, seaweed, etc.”
On a low-sodium mission
One pioneer in producing MSG-free umami and pairing it with salt is Umami-Essence Sea Salt from Salt of the Earth, a proprietary liquid blend of natural mineral-rich Red Sea salt and a natural vegetable extract that provides the distinctive umami flavour. Umami-Essence is big on taste and low on salt—with 75% less sodium than table salt. Using Umami-Essence Sea Salt in a new or existing product formulation boosts the taste of just about any food, maintaining savoury flavour, while dramatically decreasing sodium levels. Most importantly, all-natural Umami-Essence Sea Salt has no MSG or artificial ingredients. Zach adds, “Containing a unique amino acid profile naturally occurring in their free forms, Umami-Essence does not have the meaty off-flavor typical in MSG-based formulations.”
The liquid ingredient for innovation
Ofer Rokni, CEO for Salt of the Earth, comments on the quest to provide food manufacturers with full-flavor, low-sodium ingredients: “The characteristics of this novel product help food scientists innovate healthier natural, reduced-salt recipes that keep the consumer-craved salty flavor. Umami-Essence Sea Salt gives food producers a much simpler way to include a clean label claim on products. It helps companies comply with the global agenda of cutting sodium in processed foods and eliminating additives and E numbers.”
Umami Essence can be easily incorporated into sauces, pizza toppings, salad dressings, Bolognese-style meat sauces, lasagna, beef, fish, hot dogs and other products. Giorit Carmi, marketing manager, Salt of the Earth, explains, “We tested the formulation in a range of soups, sauces, meat dishes, snacks and more; Umami intensifies the taste of just about any food it touches with long-lasting, mouthwatering savoury flavour. The umami sensation ‘speaks to’ our taste buds and satisfies our cravings as no other flavour can.”
Regarding Umami-Essence Sea Salt hitting the mainstream, Carmi continues, “Salt of the Earth launched Umami-Essence Sea Salt at the 2014 SIAL international food show in Paris, earning the prestigious SIAL Innovation Selection Award for 2014 and generating great interest on a global scale.” When it comes to product inspiration, Salt of the Earth partners with the advisory firm, Practical Innovation, from the creative idea stage through final product implementation.
An all-around versatile ingredient
Umami-Essence Sea Salt is highly soluble, vegan and holds kosher certification. It is stable at a wide range of processing temperatures (in baked goods, canned products and frozen foods), and highly stable across a wide pH range.
In addition to Umami-Essence Sea Salt’s ready-to-use liquid formulation, Salt of the Earth’s food scientists are also developing a powdered version for recipes that require dry ingredients, which should be out soon.
Easing into it
The WHO sodium-cutback strategy is to give consumers a chance to adapt to lower sodium formulations through a gradual reduction in salt. The US Institute of Medicine’s strategies for food producers to reduce sodium levels recommend a stepwise reduction in salt to make the changes “imperceptible to consumers’ palates.” Umami-Essence Sea Salt gives manufacturers a better stepwise strategy: The opportunity to step down salt while stepping up flavour.
What’s on your salt-reduction menu?
While many companies are scrambling to reformulate their products, often at great expense, Umami-Essence Sea Salt could be a time- and money-saving ingredient solution to the salt-reduction charge—across product lines. It could be the opportunity that you have been seeking to lead the effort for your company’s long-term low-sodium strategy.
With World Salt Awareness Week right around the corner, time is right to shake off that extra sodium.
(The author is research and development manager, Salt of the Earth)
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