《减盐新闻》2016年11月5日

Salt in the News captures news articles (or headlines) related to sodium and sodium reduction that have been published since the last edition, about every 2 weeks. Content includes Industry News, Government News, State/Local News, International News, New Studies and Research, and more. The purpose is to provide a snapshot of sodium-related topics in the media.

November 5-18, 2016

Reducing Salt in Prepared Foods Is Tricky Business

Gary Beauchamp, of the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, has done a lot of research on salt as a flavor. Trying to reduce sodium has given rise to a new line of products that are booming right now: sodium replacement systems. Beauchamp said that one application, potassium chloride, tastes salty but is not an ideal substitute because many people find its taste bitter. Another approach is using umami, a component of monosodium glutamate (MSG), but this option may not be popular with American consumers given MSG’s reputation. Savoury Systems, a flavor company in Branchburg, New Jersey, said the costs of the compounds it uses are about 20 times higher than salt but that business is good anyway, since many food producers are trying to find ways to reduce sodium. – NewsWorks

New Ohio State Center Aims to Make Foods Healthier and Tastier

What if you could enjoy the guilty pleasure of eating a bag of potato chips with a third less sodium but all the flavor? This is one of the questions being tackled by the Flavor Research and Education Center at The Ohio State University. In one study, the center investigated how much salt the tongue perceives. “What we found is that salt is not very well extracted in your mouth during consumption,” said Devin Peterson, director of the center. “If you have a potato chip that has salt on top of it, you’re probably only perceiving 15%–20% of the salt that’s there.” – Feedstuffs

Hospital Food Alert: Why Methodist Is Upgrading Its Massive Kitchen

Indiana University Health’s Methodist Hospital, which serves 5,000 meals a day, recently completed a $573,000 modernization aimed at improving meal quality and customization. The new equipment will enable hospital chefs to prepare more foods from scratch, including soups as well as rotisserie chicken and other meats to control sodium content and saturated fats in its meals. CDC warns that hospitals serving meals with full sodium “can lead to increased salt consumption in already sick and immune-compromised populations as well as their families, hospital staff, and the public.” – Indianapolis Business Journal

Preference for Salty Food Determined by Genes, New Research Finds

People whose genetic makeup makes their taste buds especially sensitive to bitter flavors are nearly twice as likely to consume excessive amounts of sodium, according to new research presented at American Heart Association’s 2016 Scientific Sessions. Previous research revealed that people carrying a common variant of the gene TAS2R38 tend to avoid healthy foods such as broccoli and dark leafy greens because they taste the bitterness keenly. The new research found that the same group of people was 1.9 times more likely to consume more than the recommended levels of sodium than those without the genetic profile. – Telegraph

CDC Study Shows Americans Consume More Sodium than Recommended

About 90% of the 827 U.S. adults in a new CDC-led study that analyzed 24-hour urine excretions, consumed more than the recommended daily limit of sodium.  The preliminary study, presented at the American Heart Association’s 2016 Scientific Sessions, revealed an average daily sodium intake of 3,662 milligrams, with men having a higher intake than women, on average. The 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend people consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day.

– Meat and Poultry News

Dietary Sodium Restriction May Provide Kidney and Heart Benefits for CKD Patients

Reducing sodium intake may provide kidney and heart benefits for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to new findings published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Urinary excretion of protein, including albumin, is a hallmark of CKD. Therapies that reduce such albuminuria can slow kidney function decline and also have beneficial effects on the heart and blood vessels. Comparing the effect of dietary sodium restriction and paricalcitol, a drug that activates the vitamin D receptor, the investigators found that dietary sodium restriction led to a significant reduction of residual albuminuria and blood pressure, whereas paricalcitol had no significant effect on these measures. The combination of paricalcitol and a low sodium diet resulted in the lowest albuminuria levels. – News-Medical.Net

The Best Stuffing Mixes

Stuffing is many people’s favorite Thanksgiving dish, but in the frenzy of putting together a holiday feast, preparing stuffing from scratch may feel like one task too many. To help ease Thanksgiving stress, a food-testing team put nine packaged stuffing mixes to the test. Tasters did not find a big difference in flavor between stuffing mixes made with regular ingredients and those made with 33% less sodium chicken broth and unsalted butter. Even with the lower sodium ingredients, the sodium content per serving ranged from 250 milligrams (Stove Top Lower Sodium Stuffing Mix for Chicken) to 604 milligrams (Glutino Gluten Free Pantry Cornbread Stuffing). – Consumer Reports

Watching Sodium Intake During Thanksgiving

Most Americans will easily meet or surpass the recommended daily limit of sodium in just one meal during Thanksgiving. Registered dietitian Taiya Bach says the easiest way to cut back on sodium is to cook from scratch to control the amount of added sodium. Some common Thanksgiving dishes containing sodium are turkey gravy (270 milligrams per ¼ cup serving), pumpkin pie (300 milligrams per serving), and packaged stuffing (400–500 milligrams per serving). – NBC 15 WMTV Madison

Ways to Reduce Salt Intake

This video features tips to help people reduce sodium in their diets. Cooking meals from scratch is the best way to know how much sodium is in a meal. A frozen meal can contain more than 1,000 milligrams of sodium, but that content can be halved when cooking with fresh ingredients at home. Packaged foods can be used occasionally if there is not enough time to cook a meal, but look for labels that say “sodium free” or “low in sodium”. Watch out for dressings and sauces, which are typically high in sodium that top salads and other seemingly healthy meals. – ABC 30 KFSN-TV Fresno

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