Industry unveils healthier ingredients as authorities demand lower sodium and fat

03 Dec 2021 --- As pressure mounts to decrease salt and fat in F&B, industry is responding with innovations to create better-for-you foods. Disproquima, ICL Food Specialties, Ingredia and Griffith Foods, who all attended this week’s Fi Europe 2021, tell NutritionInsight how their solutions make flavorful and indulgent foods healthier by reducing sodium and fat while maintaining taste and texture.

These innovations come as sodium has come under increased scrutiny by health authorities. This March, the World Health Organization set global sodium benchmarks in more than 60 food categories. 

The US Food and Drug Administration also recently developed voluntary salt reduction targets spanning over 2.5 years to help industry track their progress to healthier levels. 

Slashing sodium
Life science company Disproquima presented the most recent iteration of its salt-reduction ingredient NutraSal. NutraSal Zero allows for complete sodium replacement using a combination of potassium chloride, anti-caking agents and flavoring.

“Salt reduction is one of the key questions that health authorities worldwide are asking producers to address,” says Lorenzo Prieto, food division manager. 

Griffith Foods’ “Snack ‘xperience” concepts rate as B or C on the Nutri-Score.The ingredient builds upon NutraSal 50% Less Sodium, first released in 2015. The product has been an ongoing area of development, with new versions perfecting taste perception. 

“NutraSal can be used in any application where salt needs to be reduced on a 1:1 basis. It works for every product in the market, such as meat, bread and dairy,” Prieto adds.  

What makes NutraSal stand out in the market is its sensory profile, he says, which maintains the same taste as normal salt in partially reduced formulations. When it comes to 100% reduced sodium content, however, the taste is “similar but not exactly the same” as regular salt. 

Spicing up lower sodium 
Griffith Foods is tackling sodium reduction with its Sodium Flex toolbox, as demonstrated at FiE on nuts. The toolkit is designed to reduce sodium seasoning from 25% to 100% and can also be used in nut coatings. 

Sodium Flex was presented alongside chips flavored with Griffith Foods’ Infuso oil. 

The flavored oils solution can create bold and layered tastes in a single manufacturing step, rather than the stand two-step process of oil spraying and seasoning. 

“The Infuso oil has two advantages,” explains Wim Van Roekel, president of Griffith Foods. “It has a nice flavor release, giving you a very nice taste, and it can also aid in sodium reduction.”

Potato chips at FiE were presented with 30% less sodium without the use of additives.  

Optimized emulsifying salts 
Within the cheese space, ICL Food Specialties unveiled its latest generation of JOHA emulsifying salts that can reduce sodium in processed cheese. 

The JOHA SF line is used to optimize protein content while reducing ingredients typically needed for snack cheeses, such as hydrocolloids or thickeners, details Jean-François Travel, global R&D lead dairy at ICL Food Specialties. 

Ingredia showcased three clean label formulations supported by functional milk proteins.Due to the increased firmness JOHA SF provides – compared to standard emulsifying salts – the protein content can be reduced and the addition of thickeners avoided. This results in a better cost-in-use in the final product and cleaner labeling. In addition, the sodium level can be reduced by 40% compared to traditional emulsifying salts. 

“We were looking for something that improves the texture and economics of the product, which is in line with health trends like sodium reduction and plant-based,” says Travel. 

The entire line can also be used in spreadable processed cheese applications, including vegan cheeses, which are “on trend.” The JOHA SF line was named a finalist for the 2021 FiE Innovation Awards. 

Clean label with natural dairy
Functional dairy supplier Ingredia, meanwhile, showcased its Promilk 85 ingredient – a milk protein that can be used to create creamy, high-protein drinking yogurts without additional fat to maintain an indulgent texture. 

Françoise Robin, product manager for milk proteins at the company, notes that these types of drinking yogurts with high-protein and no-added-fat content have gained significant traction with “nomadic” and busy consumers – particularly in Europe and Asia – who are looking for healthy options. 

The formulation also boosts a high-protein content – up to 12%. 

Natural dairy is also adding a health halo to indulgent categories like confectionery. Epi ingredients presented its So Candy concept at FiE, which incorporated yogurt powders into sweets, such as marshmallows and gummies. 

By Missy Green