Salt Reduction in the bread industry

18 September 2012

Salt Intake: Worldwide

• Total salt (NaCl) intake: 10-15 g/day for adults

• WHO recommendation : Max intake of 5g NaCl /day for adults

• Most sodium is found in processed foods eg. foodstuffs with high (> 1000 mg / 100 g) NaCl content: snacks,

sauces, cheese etc.

Why the Fuss ?

• Excessive salt leads to increased risk of stomach cancer, kidney failure, dehydration, high blood pressure and hypertension, which in turn can contribute to heart disease and strokes

• High dietary salt intake is estimated to cause about a third of all hypertension

Major Underlying Factors causing Death - Worldwide

0 2 4 6 8

Raised Blood Pressure

Tobacco

High Cholesterol

Underweight

Unsafe sex

Millions of Deaths Developing regions

Millions of Deaths Developed regions

Raised BP is responsible for 62% of all strokes and 49% of Heart Disease (Ezzati et al. Lancet 2002:360:1347-60)

Possible result if NaCl intake is reduced

Salt intake 5-6g / day

Stroke 24%

CHD 18%

Worldwide approx 2.5 million deaths prevented / annum

Source: HE & MacGregor Hypertension 2003;42:1093-99

Where are we now? What is the bread industry

doing about Salt?

Status of Na content in bread in the world

Status of Na content in bread in the world continue

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Technical Functionality of Salt in Bread Production

Salt reduction strategies

• Challenges caused by reducing salt can be overcome through different strategies (process and recipe adjustment):

– Define mixing energy based on protein and salt content

– Stronger flour

– Control dough temperatures ex mixer and proof time

– Smaller mixes

– Breeding for increased process tolerance

– Salt replacers (Lallemand )

Consumer acceptability

• TASTE and FLAVOUR remain most important challenge

TOO MUCH • Salty

TOO LITTLE • Flavourless • Insipid

Thank you for your time and attention !