
PepsiCo Reduces Sodium by Restructuring Salt - jsm386
http://www.foodprocessing.com/industrynews/2010/050.html
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PostOnce
If this isn't innovation, I don't know what is.

Beautiful things happen when time and effort are spent on mundane problems.

~~~
mattmaroon
The nice thing is, unlike what we've done with many other things, we're not
substituting something even less healthy for the problem we're trying to cure.
(ie. margarine full of transfats for butter, HFCS for sugar.)

It's just getting the same taste benefit with less sodium. Pretty much win-win
(assuming it's not costly).

~~~
orblivion
Wait are you sure? You're "restructuring" salt. That raises flags for me, as
much as HFCS does anyway. I guess I'd have to see exactly what they do. More
chloride?

~~~
brunov
No, the Na:Cl ratio should still be 1 to balance off the charges.

It's probably reducing the size of the salt crystals so that it disolves in
your saliva quicker, allowing for the same taste with less mass of salt.

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TeHCrAzY
I would hazard a guess that they would be more interested in the crystal's
physical formation. "Small" salt crystals already exist! Perhaps they can
significantly adjust the atomic structure (less crazy that it sounds) to be
optimal?

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natrius
For anyone else wondering why Pepsi cares about this: they own Frito-Lay.

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3dFlatLander
Incidentally, you ever read the ingredients list of Fritos? If not, you're up
for a pleasant surprise.

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psyklic
Ingredients: Corn, Corn Oil, and Salt. No Preservatives.

There are similarly simple ingredients in most plain potato chips. But corn
chips and potato chips are usually FRIED!!

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bobbyi
Salt is a preservative.

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crystalis
Your pedantry is not contributing to the conversation.

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benatkin
You also don't taste all the salt in meat or cheese, as you swallow bits that
don't get fully chewed up. That's how it's possible that there's more salt in
a serving of cheese than a serving of salted nuts, even though the nuts taste
saltier.

[http://www.thedailyplate.com/nutrition-
calories/food/planter...](http://www.thedailyplate.com/nutrition-
calories/food/planters/salted-cashews-half-serving)
[http://www.thedailyplate.com/nutrition-
calories/food/sorrent...](http://www.thedailyplate.com/nutrition-
calories/food/sorrento/fresh-mozzarella-cheese)

~~~
smallblacksun
Also, a lot of the salt on salted nuts falls off and ends up in the bottom of
the jar, so you don't actually eat it.

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gojomo
The public health disaster of the 2020s: blowback from the sodium crusade of
the 2010s.

Wherein it will be found that:

\- sodium isn't nearly as bad as was thought -- the numbers shopped by
advocacy groups are found to have been based on flimsy studies and
extrapolations -- and many population subgroups already had sodium
deficiencies at the beginning of the crusade, which were worsened by the new
standards

\- most people unconsciously sought a homeostatic balance, and thus increased
their consumption of other foods to try to restore the salt levels that were
lessened-by-statutes, aggravating other health issues

\- novel salt substitutes cooked up in the labs had unforeseen negative health
effects

~~~
starkfist
Doubtful. The amount of sodium in processed food products and restaurant food
is absurdly high. Which population groups have sodium deficiencies? certainly
none in the 1st world, and probably none in the 2nd & 3rd world.

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gojomo
Objectively define 'absurdly high'.

My suggestion of some groups already having deficiency is conjecture based on
little hints here and there; more study is needed. My guesses would be:
vegetarians, athletes who avoid processed food, ethnicities with a longer
history of eating heavily-salted foods, some elderly, some pregnant women.

I suppose that by subjecting the entire population to an enforced low-sodium
diet, and seeing who starts suffering from fatigue and early mortality, we'll
find out soon enough.

~~~
periferral
I disagree. I think if anything there are more people dying because of high
blood pressure and other illnesses linked through it than low-sodium issues.
Besides, the fix to low-sodium, eat more salt. The fix to high blood pressure,
exercise and medication.

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ericb
Honest question, are we sure salt is that culpable in high blood pressure?
Anyone have recent credible studies either way?

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eru
Sorry, I can't be bothered to cite a study.

But it seems to have some effect, and eating some more salt is also
recommended for people with too low blood pressure.

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DannoHung
Was there a corresponding 25% decrease in chlorine as well? Cuz, uh, more free
chloride ions seems... not good.

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ars
There wasn't.

They just made it so you are more likely to taste the salt, therefor they have
to put less in.

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gojomo
Just don't drop any of this Salt-9 in the oceans!

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jmtame
i read this book, but i can't remember the name of it now

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crowbar
Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle". Always worth reading through again.

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nfnaaron
"Khan said PepsiCo researchers collaborated with scientists from around the
world and found ways of changing the crystal size and structure to make the
salt crystal dissolve more quickly, _effectively putting the sodium on your
tongue, not in your digestive system_."

What? What happens to the salt that dissolves on your tongue? Doesn't it
travel into your system as you swallow your saliva? Or do little salt beaches
form in your mouth?

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hga
I think this means more of the salt hits your tongue on the way to your
digestive system, i.e. from the fine article, " _A Wall Street Journal story
later reported only about 20 percent of the salt on a chip dissolves on the
tongue, and the remaining 80 percent is swallowed without contributing to
taste._ "

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timdellinger
Google for "dendritic salt"... it's been around for years. It also soaks up
flavors into its little pores and holds them really well. I've seen
micrographs in advertisements in food industry publications that are really
beautiful, fractal-looking crystals. They key is to add a touch of things like
sodium ferrocyanide to hinder the usual crystallization so that the crystals
only grow at the corners.

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bdonlan
Sodium ferrocyanide sounds like it might be somewhat toxic and/or need FDA
approval...

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wrs
Fortunately, you can take advantage of different "salt structures" in your own
cooking (table salt, kosher salt, sea salt, Fleur de Sel, etc.) without a
research lab. Putting Fleur de Sel on Fritos would be a little crazy, but this
sounds like the same basic idea.

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alanh
Unreported is the process used to achieve the result. What enzymes are used?
Are there trace amounts left in the finished salt?

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brunov
What makes you think they are using enzymes?

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SapphireSun
Agreed. This is inorganic chemistry. They are probably doing something like
doing something like precipitating the salt from an aqueous solution in a
special way (like under high velocity flow or supersaturating aerosolized
water droplets).

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adolph
I guess the margarita would be an example of prior art?

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Tichy
I'm sure Cola will be that much healthier now. Not...

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ck2
My diet soda already says "very low sodium" so why can't regular drinks also
be very low?

Or is salt a preservative for the sugar drinks?

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kilian
it's for the crisps/chips they make (as mentioned elsewhere, pepsi owns frito-
lay)

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dbEsq
Better eating through science.

~~~
ovi256
Better better through science.

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ovi256
Oh come on guys, use your imaginations. I was just saying that science
constantly pushes our expectations upwards, its progress advancing at such
tremendous speed that we are unfazed by what yesterday passed for magic. No
other discipline manages to do that, I dare say. Modern art ? Underwhelming to
most people.

