Sodium plays a critical role in ensuring food safety and quality. Historically, sodium has served as a natural preservative by lowering water activity in certain foods, which inhibits the growth of harmful pathogens. The addition of salt has also been instrumental in extending the shelf-life of various food products while delaying spoilage. Today, salt remains essential in many food commodities, such as dairy and ready-to-eat meats, not only as a preservative but also as a flavor enhancer and a means to improve texture.
However, as the need to reduce sodium consumption has become more critical to public health, there’s a growing need to decrease salt levels in the formulation of highly-consumed food products. This reduction is complicated and can have consequences-not only to taste and quality but it may also heighten the risk of pathogenic bacterial growth.
This webinar will highlight the technologies and strategies currently employed to safely reduce sodium in foods where salt contributes to food quality and preservation. Also discussed will be the impact of sodium reduction, limitations in particular food products and areas where investment and technologies are still needed to accelerate progress.