By Douglas J. Peckenpaugh, Managing Editor
At any given moment in time in our ever-evolving food industry, various market drivers actively move business forward. These days, two key angles on product development continually rise to the forefront of R&D’s—and consumers’—collective consciousness: natural and low sodium.
Traditional routes to cutting sodium in foods have generally involved sodium replacers that help maintain a salty taste in the food. However, these replacers can contribute an unwanted off note to the product, of varying intensity depending on the formulation, which can require masking.
At this point—before even considering the vital point of product stability (salt, after all, is a functional ingredient from a food-safety standpoint)—we’re adding two or more ingredients to the mix in the place of some or all of the sodium in a product. That sodium is often contributed primarily by salt, an inexpensive ingredient. Add in the need for increased preservative protection to the food, and ingredient costs—and the ingredient statement—continue to grow.
But the clarion call to cut sodium across the board in foods has inescapably sounded, setting R&D across the industry to task toward finding workable solutions—including “all-natural" options that jibe with an increasing consumer demographic that reads labels, avoiding anything that sounds unfamiliar or “chemically oriented." As noted in a Feb. 16, 2010 press release from the Natural Marketing Institute, Harleysville, PA, “pure and simple" is projected to form the basis of a top trend in the coming decade, and this encompasses concomitant concepts like “cleaner labeling" and “less is more."
For a product like natural cheese, which already inhabits a realm friendly to such consumers, meddling with its pedigree can prove unsuitably counter-intuitive.
The challenge for cheese
Americans have an apparently insatiable appetite for cheese. The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Madison, reports that annual per capita cheese consumption has increased from 19.9 lbs. in 1982 to 32.7 lbs. in 2007—and that number is projected to grow to 37 lbs. by 2017.
Cheese is certainly not immune to the low-sodium challenge, but it poses a particular conundrum. Natural cheeses consist of a firm set of ingredients, and are protected by a range of standards of identity tied to specific types. And these criteria stipulate clear label identification of any added salt substitutes when it comes to low-sodium cheeses (see Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 133). For consumers aligned with the natural-food movement who have grown accustomed to scrutinizing product labels, such an ostensible callout may very well raise a red flag.
