1. Technical Field
The present disclosure is directed to low sodium salt substitute compositions and food products comprising the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been growing concern in recent years about the effect of excessive dietary sodium intake. Excessive sodium intake is believed to be the cause of certain deleterious health problems such as various cardiac and renal conditions. Moreover, the accumulation of sodium ions in the body tends to cause an accumulation of fluids, with a corresponding increase in weight, by the body tissues.
The primary source of sodium in the diet is sodium chloride, namely, salt, which enters the diet via multiple pathways including: (i) food naturally containing sodium chloride; (ii) processed foods to which sodium chloride and other sodium salts are added; and (iii) food to which sodium chloride is added by an individual during cooking or prior to eating. The final two pathways have posed the greatest problem of excessive sodium ion intake in the diet.
Significant attention has been directed to ways to remove sodium chloride from the diet, including removal from processed foods. However, the removal of sodium chloride from the human diet poses certain challenges. In particular, the “salty” taste associated with sodium chloride is a particularly important flavor characteristic in many kinds of foods, and foods which do not have a salty taste are often described as “bland” or “tasteless.”
Many attempts have been made to provide salty tasting compositions as a substitute for table salt. To this end, potassium chloride, ammonium chloride, and similar compounds have been suggested. However, the use of these chlorides alone or in combination does not provide the desired taste or seasoning effect of sodium chloride. Potassium chloride has a strong aftertaste which is usually characterized as bitter by most people. Ammonium chloride also has a bitter after taste and, when ingested, can produce undesirable side effects. Furthermore, ammonium chloride decomposes at cooking and baking temperatures thereby changing the pH value of the surrounding material affecting the taste and other properties of any cooked foods which contain it.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provides regulatory oversight over the content of food sold in the U.S. Over concerns about the effect of sodium on human health, the FDA has defined “low sodium” to mean less than 140 mg per serving.
Accordingly, while progress has been made in this field, there remains a need in the art for low sodium salt substitute compositions that effectively mimic the flavor of salt and are within the FDA limit of 140 mg per serving. The present disclosure fulfills this need and provides further related advantages.