Salt, a culinary cornerstone, significantly enhances the flavor profiles of nearly every food we enjoy, and foods.edu.vn is here to tell you why. Beyond basic seasoning, salt interacts with our taste receptors and food chemistry in remarkable ways. Explore the science-backed reasons for salt’s flavor-boosting properties, including taste perception, food chemistry, and historical context, and discover the best ways to leverage salt in your cooking.
1. A Pinch of History: Salt’s Enduring Legacy
The use of salt in food is a distinctly human practice. While there’s a fascinating account of Japanese macaques learning to dip potatoes in saltwater (Kawai, 1965), presumably for enhanced flavor, the widespread adoption of salt consumption by human societies began roughly 5,000 to 10,000 years ago (He and MacGregor, 2007; MacGregor and de Wardener, 1998; Man, 2007).
Most historians and food experts believe that early salt use was primarily for food preservation (MacGregor and de Wardener, 1998; Multhauf, 1978), which then led to the high consumption we see today. However, with the advancement of salt mining and more efficient transportation methods, starting in China over 4,000 years ago (Adshead, 1992), the characteristic taste of salted food became not only accepted but expected (Multhauf, 1978). Salt’s influence is so profound that some argue that numerous defining characteristics of human society and culture are rooted in the desire for salt and the bustling salt trade (Beauchamp, 1987; Bloch, 1963; Fregley, 1980).
Estimating salt consumption in pre-modern times is challenging, as the most accurate method involves measuring 24-hour urinary excretion. In most normal conditions, the body maintains salt balance, meaning intake equals output. Historical records provide some insight. For example, in certain parts of China around 300 B.C., the average daily sodium intake was estimated at nearly 3,000 mg/d for women and 5,000 mg/d for men (Adshead, 1992). Multhauf (1978) estimated that in France and Britain in 1850, the average culinary intake of sodium was between 4,000 and 5,000 mg/d. If these estimates are accurate, they fall within the range of consumption seen in many societies today (INTERSALT Cooperative Research Group, 1988). Therefore, high salt intake is not merely a product of 20th-century food processing but likely originates from the necessity of food processing methods, particularly food preservation, dating back thousands of years.
The consistency of salt intake across time and diverse ethnic groups has led to speculation about potential physiological or nutritional factors that predispose humans to desire high salt intake (Fessler, 2003; Kaunitz, 1956; McCarron et al., 2009; Michell, 1978). While limited experimental evidence exists to support this hypothesis (Luft, 2009), some data contradict it (Beauchamp et al., 1987). Further research into whether human sodium intake, at levels exceeding known physiological needs, is metabolically regulated would be valuable.
2. Unpacking “Taste” and “Flavor”: A Culinary Distinction
The terms “taste” and “flavor” are often used interchangeably, but it’s crucial to understand the distinction, especially when discussing salt’s impact on our eating experience. The word “taste” has both a technical and a common meaning. The common usage often encompasses the broader concept of “flavor.” We will primarily use “taste” in its technical sense in this section.
2.1. Taste: A Technical Perspective
Taste, as a technical term, refers to one of the five primary senses, defined by anatomy. In mammals, it is the sense mediated by taste receptor cells primarily located in taste buds within the oral cavity. These receptor cells are innervated by branches of the seventh, ninth, and tenth cranial nerves, which synapse in the brainstem before sending signals to other brain regions (Breslin and Spector, 2008).
Most researchers agree that the sense of taste comprises a limited set of basic qualities, typically including sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and savory (or umami) (Bachmanov and Beauchamp, 2007). These specific taste categories are believed to have evolved to aid animals in addressing two primary needs: identifying and consuming nutrients while avoiding poisons. Consequently, responses to taste compounds (tastants) are often genetically programmed. For instance, sweet tastants are generally liked and ingested by animals that consume plants (herbivores and omnivores), though some carnivores, like cats, do not detect sweet compounds (Li et al., 2005). Conversely, bitter tastants are generally disliked and avoided, as many are toxic (Breslin and Spector, 2008).
2.2. Flavor: Beyond the Basics
Virtually all foods and beverages stimulate sensations beyond just taste. A complex dish like soup, for example, not only has taste qualities (e.g., salty, sour, or sweet) but also contains volatile compounds that provide its unique identity (e.g., pea soup versus potato soup). It may also elicit burning sensations, such as those from hot peppers. These sensory properties are conveyed through the sense of smell (cranial nerve 1), mainly via the retronasal route, which travels from the throat up through the nasal passages to the olfactory receptors in the upper nasal cavity, and through the sense of chemesthesis (Green et al., 1990) or irritation (cranial nerve 5), respectively. In everyday language, the overall sensation elicited by the food is often called its “taste.” However, scientists typically use the term “flavor” to describe this total sensation, and we will adopt this convention here. Many also include the texture of a food as a component of flavor. Taste molecules like salt can influence flavor in many ways, as explored below.
2.3. Flavor’s Influence on Food Preference
While this article focuses on how the taste of salt influences food palatability, it is important to emphasize the crucial role that other chemical sensory systems (smell, chemesthesis) play in overall flavor perception. These systems should be considered when developing strategies to successfully reduce overall sodium intake (Koza et al., 2005). Certain volatiles detected by smell receptors are often perceived as “sweet” and can contribute to judgments of a substance’s overall sweetness and acceptability (Schifferstein and Verlegh, 1996). A similar phenomenon may occur for saltiness (Manabe et al., 2009). Recent brain imaging studies (e.g., using functional magnetic resonance imaging) have shown that flavor information from these separate sensory systems converges in several brain regions, most notably the orbitofrontal cortex (Rolls et al., 2010). This integration leads to a unified perception of flavor, despite its being made up of anatomically independent sensory systems, highlighting the critical role of overall flavor perception in determining a food’s pleasantness.
Furthermore, incorporating ingredients with significant flavor impact into the cooking or manufacturing process can help reduce the need for added salt. Fresh herbs and spices, citrus, mustards, and vinegars can impart distinctive flavorings that can be used in place of or in conjunction with salt, as suggested by numerous authors on strategies for lowering sodium intake (e.g., Beard, 2004; MacGregor and de Wardener, 1998; Ram, 2008). Certain cooking techniques, such as searing, can also help reduce the need for added salt in many foodservice and home cooking operations by producing new flavors (Ram, 2008). However, whether these techniques are applicable to foods prepared by manufacturers and large foodservice operators, which often involve highly processed foods cooked at high temperatures for extended periods, requires further study. Additional research is needed to identify alternative approaches to reduce salt in these parts of the food supply.
Beyond individual food products, flavor issues should be considered when evaluating the palatability of sodium levels in composite dishes, whole meals, and entire diets. The food supply includes a wide array of commercially successful products and ingredients, from fresh to prepared to manufactured, with sodium levels ranging from very high to moderate to very low. The fact that an individual might be fully satisfied with two snacks with vastly different sodium levels (e.g., a fresh apple and salted pretzels) highlights how the sodium taste issue is dependent on broader flavor contexts. Combining higher-sodium foods with naturally low-sodium foods (e.g., fresh fruits and vegetables) in dishes or meals can meet consumer taste demands, suggesting a set of flavor questions that warrant further study. The challenge of salt taste might be as much about reconsidering flavor options in recipe selection and menu development (e.g., reducing the aggregation of high-sodium ingredients in a single dish) as overcoming technical challenges with salt substitutions, particularly for foodservice and home cooking, and to a lesser extent for food manufacturing.
3. Decoding Salt Taste: Perception and Preference
Tastes have several distinguishable sensory attributes (Breslin and Spector, 2008). Each molecule detected by the sense of taste is characterized by one or more qualities, such as salty, sweet, and bitter. Sodium chloride, the quintessential salt taste molecule, imparts an almost pure salt taste, whereas potassium chloride, often used in reduced-sodium formulations, tastes both salty and bitter. This bitterness is a primary reason why it often fails to fully replicate the sensory effects of salt.
Taste molecules also have an intensity; as concentration increases, saltiness increases until it reaches a maximum, beyond which no further saltiness is perceived. Tastants can also be evaluated for their time course or persistence. Salt taste intensity increases rapidly within a few hundred milliseconds and then quickly declines. This sharp time course is generally valued by consumers. Tastes can also be localized within the oral cavity. Salt taste can be identified by receptors throughout the oral cavity, though evidence suggests that the front and sides of the tongue are more sensitive than the back (Collings, 1974).
A critical attribute of salt taste is its hedonic or pleasantness dimension. For many foods, adding salt increases liking up to a certain point, after which adding more salt reduces palatability. This inverted “U” function can be used in food formulation by testing the acceptance of different salt concentrations with many consumers. The optimal point, often called the “bliss point” (McBride, 1994), varies substantially among individuals, likely due to differences in experience with salt in that food and other foods. The optimal level (the bliss point) can be shifted by altering one’s salt exposure. This theory provides a sensory basis for gradual salt reduction recommendations. It is also important to note that the term “bliss point” can be misleading, as there may be a fairly wide range of added salt concentrations that are considered fully acceptable. This can explain why sodium levels can vary widely within seemingly similar food categories (see Figure 3-1). Moreover, this phenomenon may help explain why it is relatively easy in some instances to substantially reduce salt in foods without reducing perceived pleasantness.
4. Beyond Saltiness: Salt’s Flavor-Enhancing Effects
Salt does more than just impart a salty taste; it significantly enhances overall food flavor. Studies have shown that salt improves the perception of product thickness, enhances sweetness, masks metallic or chemical off-notes, rounds out overall flavor, and improves flavor intensity in a variety of foods, including soups, rice, eggs, and potato chips (Gillette, 1985). These effects are illustrated in Figure 3-2, using soup as an example.
In this figure, the distance of each point (e.g., “thickness,” “saltiness”) from the center represents the intensity of that attribute. Adding salt to soup not only increases its saltiness but also enhances other positive attributes like thickness, fullness, and overall balance.
The mechanisms behind these varied sensory effects of salt in foods are not fully understood. How salt increases the perceived body or thickness of liquids like soups is particularly mysterious. It is possible that salt interacts with somatosensory (touch) neural systems in addition to salt taste receptors.
One understood mechanism by which sodium-containing compounds improve overall flavor is by suppressing bitter tastes. Various sodium-containing ingredients reduce the bitterness of compounds like quinine hydrochloride, caffeine, magnesium sulfate, and potassium chloride (Breslin and Beauchamp, 1995). This suppression of bitter compounds can enhance the taste attributes of other food components. For example, adding sodium acetate (which is only mildly salty itself) to mixtures of sugar and the bitter compound urea enhanced the perceived sweetness by suppressing bitterness (Breslin and Beauchamp, 1997. No change in sweetness was found when sodium acetate was added to sugar solutions without urea, indicating that the improved taste was due to the suppression of bitterness by sodium acetate.
Another proposed reason for salt’s flavor-potentiating effects is its influence on water activity (the amount of unbound water). Salt decreases water activity, which can lead to an effective increase in the concentration of flavors and improve the volatility of flavor components (Delahunty and Piggott, 1995; Hutton, 2002. Higher volatility of flavor components improves the aroma of food, contributing greatly to flavor.
In summary, salt enhances the palatability of food flavor beyond simply imparting a desirable salt taste. This non-salty sensory role may be magnified in products with reduced amounts of other positive sensory properties (e.g., low-fat products) or increased amounts of non-preferred flavors (e.g., foods fortified with often bitter antioxidants). When reducing salt in the food supply, it is often necessary to identify ways to replace the flavor-modifying effects of salt. This highlights the technological challenges of reducing salt in complex foods while maintaining their palatability. Further research is needed to fully understand all perceptual attributes of salt in foods.
5. The Science of Salt Taste: How It Works
Sodium chloride imparts salt taste once it is dissociated into ions (individual atoms with an electrical charge). The sodium ion (Na+) is primarily responsible for saltiness, though the chloride ion (Cl−) plays a modulatory role (Bartoshuk, 1980). As the negatively charged ion (anion) increases in size (e.g., from chloride to acetate or gluconate), the saltiness decreases. Many sodium compounds are both salty and bitter; with some anions, the bitterness predominates, eliminating all saltiness (Murphy et al., 1981).
There are believed to be two or more types of receptors in the oral cavity, primarily on the tongue, that trigger salt tastes (Bachmanov and Beauchamp, 2007), but major gaps in our understanding of salt taste reception remain. The most prominent hypothesis, demonstrated in mice and rats, involves ion channels or pores (Epithelial sodium [Na] Channels: ENaCs). ENaCs allow sodium (and lithium) to move from outside the taste receptor cell, where it has been dissolved in saliva, into the cell. This increase in Na+ inside the cell causes the release of neurotransmitters that signal salt taste to the brain (Chandrashekar et al., 2010; McCaughey, 2007; McCaughey and Scott, 1998). Because sodium and lithium are the only ions known to produce a purely salt taste, these channel receptors are believed to play a major role in sensing saltiness (Beauchamp and Stein, 2008; McCaughey, 2007).
The evidence supporting sodium channel receptors as salt taste receptors is largely based on animal models, primarily rodents. These findings indicate that the diuretic compound amiloride, which blocks sodium channels, reduces salt taste perception in these animals. However, amiloride is much less effective in blocking salt taste perception in humans (Halpern, 1998. Nevertheless, since human salt taste mechanisms are unlikely to fundamentally differ from those of rodents, most researchers believe that an ENaC is the most likely receptor in humans as well. If this hypothesis is correct, it has significant implications for the search for salt substitutes. Given this channel’s specificity for sodium, it is highly unlikely that any substance could fully replace sodium (except for lithium, which is highly toxic).
At least one other type of taste receptor that detects sodium chloride and other salts is thought to exist. This hypothesis is based in part on work showing that some salt taste is perceived even when cations that cannot fit into the ENaC (potassium, calcium, ammonium) are present, rather than sodium or lithium. In addition, salt still elicits a taste in animal model studies, although to a lesser extent and with less specificity, when the ENaC is blocked by amiloride (DeSimone and Lyall, 2006; McCaughey, 2007). A complete understanding of how humans recognize salt taste, a major gap in our knowledge, could facilitate the discovery of effective and economically feasible salt taste enhancers.
6. The Evolution of Salt Taste: Need vs. Preference
It is widely assumed that the ability to detect salt, and thus salt taste perception, arose in response to the need for plant-eating organisms to ensure adequate sodium intake (Denton, 1982; Geerling and Loewy, 2008). Sodium is vital for many physiological processes, and the body cannot store large amounts. Moreover, outside of the sea, salt is often scarce in the environment (Bloch, 1963).
Animals, including humans, choose to consume salt under two conditions. The first, widely studied in experimental animals, occurs when there is a true sodium need, as experienced by many plant-eating animals in low-sodium environments. This is called salt need (Denton, 1982; Geerling and Loewy, 2008). A number of hormonal, central nervous, and behavioral systems engage when an animal is truly deficient in sodium, motivating it to search for sodium salts, avidly consume them based on their salt taste, and restore sodium balance (Morris et al., 2008). Sodium-depleted animals have an innate ability to recognize the needed nutrient by its distinct taste. While true sodium need may be experienced by humans under some conditions and has been studied experimentally (Beauchamp et al., 1990; McCance, 1936), it is rare and cannot explain why humans consume as much salt as they do (Beauchamp and Stein, 2008; Leshem, 2009. A marginal deficiency of other minerals, particularly calcium, may play a role in stimulating human salt intake (Tordoff, 1992). If further studies support this, encouraging increased calcium consumption, already recommended for bone health (HHS, 2000), could be a strategy to reduce salt liking and intake.
The second condition responsible for salt intake occurs in many species, including humans, even when there is no apparent need for salt, i.e., when sufficient sodium for all bodily needs has been consumed. This is termed salt preference (Denton, 1982), even though the desire does not reflect a conscious preference. Taste preference for salt (in the absence of need) has been identified in many animals. Humans generally consume far more salt than necessary and continue to enjoy salty foods even when physiological needs are met. Thus, it appears that salt preference, rather than true physiological need, drives salt intake in human populations. Why people consume so much more salt than they need is a concept that is not fully understood and needs explanation.
It has been argued that a preference for salt beyond physiological need is primarily or exclusively due to learning, particularly early learning, or even that it is an addiction (Dahl, 1972; MacGregor and de Wardener, 1998; Multhauf, 1978). Other researchers argue that while learning may play a role, evolutionary pressures to consume salt have shaped people and some other animals to have an innate liking for its taste, even when sodium is not needed (Beauchamp, 1991; Denton, 1982). Denton (1982) noted that merely because salt is consumed in excess of contemporaneous need in no way mitigates against such consumption being driven by innate propensities, just as sexual activity occurs in the absence of intent to increase numbers of the species. Even under the first hypothesis, which proposes that high salt intake is due to powerful learning, salt consumption beyond need must necessarily provide some kind of strong reward. People generally do not become highly attracted to substances unless these substances have powerful positive physiological effects. A greater understanding of the basis for high salt preference would help guide efforts to reduce that preference. Thus, there is a need to examine the existing knowledge about the origin of preference during human development.
7. The Role of Early Development in Shaping Salt Taste
Although human infants need sodium in moderation (IOM, 2005), they are indifferent to or reject salt at birth, particularly at concentrations higher than found in human blood (hypertonic). By approximately 4–6 months of age, infants show a preference (relative to plain water) for saline solutions around the level found in blood (isotonic) or even higher (Cowart et al., 2004). This age-related hedonic shift may represent the maturation of the salt taste receptor cell. Some rodent studies have shown that the ability to detect salt taste matures after birth (Hill and Mistretta, 1990); this may also be the case for humans.
The amount of salt an infant consumes can influence their salt taste preference (Harris and Booth, 1985). Geleijnse et al. (1997) reported that children randomized to either a low or normal sodium diet during the first 6 months of life exhibited differences in blood pressure when tested after 15 years of follow-up, with the low sodium group having lower blood pressures. These data support the hypothesis that lowered exposure to salt in infancy results in lower preference and intake later in life, though this was not specifically tested.
The most dramatic effects of early environmental variation on later salt preference and intake have been observed following large sodium loss (true sodium depletion, very rare in adulthood) during late fetal life or early infancy. Clinical observations (Beauchamp, 1991) and studies of clinical populations (Leshem, 2009) indicate that true sodium depletion during this period may enhance later salt liking, perhaps permanently. These human studies align with a large body of experimental rodent studies indicating that early depletion causes permanent changes in neural circuits that mediate salt intake. As adult salt depletion has little evidence of comparable long-term effects on salt liking (Beauchamp et al., 1990; Leshem, 2009, variation in salt exposure during a critical period of maturation may permanently alter peripheral or central structures, thereby strongly influencing childhood and adult sodium intake patterns.
Children have been reported to have higher preference for salt than adults (Beauchamp and Cowart, 1990; Beauchamp et al., 1990; Desor et al., 1975. The behavioral and physiological basis for this age-related difference is not understood. It could reflect cohort effects if children were exposed to higher salt levels than adults, or it could reflect underlying differences in the sensory or metabolic properties of salt for individuals of different ages.
These data highlight the importance of understanding salt taste and preference in children and how early experiences modulate these sensory responses. The salt environment during infancy and childhood, and any changes resulting from lowering the overall salt level in the food environment, will likely have the most profound effects. Further research is needed to evaluate how changes in salt exposure during this crucial period influence later liking.
8. Reducing Sodium Without Sacrificing Flavor: Strategies for Success
Given the significant role salt taste plays in food choice, sodium intake reduction should focus on modifying or manipulating salt taste while exploring salt substitutes. Several approaches may be relevant to strategies to reduce intake.
8.1. Adult Taste Adaptation: A Model for Population-Wide Change
Anecdotal evidence, clinical observations, and limited experimental evidence suggest that people gradually adapt to and appreciate lower sodium levels when they adopt a lower-sodium diet. For example, Arctic explorer Stefansson (1946) reported that while living with Inuit groups who didn’t add salt to their food, he initially found the foods bland and craved salt. However, within a few months, he lost the desire for added salt and found salted food unpalatable.
Experimental evidence supports these anecdotes, suggesting that the preference for salt is a malleable trait. Studies show that people initially dislike foods with less salt when they start a low-sodium diet (Beauchamp, 1991). However, the lower-sodium diet eventually becomes accepted, and foods containing the previous amount of salt may be perceived as too salty (Beauchamp et al., 1983; Blais et al., 1986; Elmer, 1988; Mattes, 1997; Teow et al., 1986). Bertino et al. (1982) reported that after consuming a diet with a 30–50 percent overall reduction in sodium for 2 to 3 months, volunteers gradually developed a preference for foods with lower salt levels. Elmer (1988) reported similar results in a study with more subjects, as shown in Figure 3-5.
This shift in preference can also move in the other direction: placing people on a higher-salt diet shifted their preference upward, leading them to like more salt in their foods (Bertino et al., 1986). This suggests that these shifts are due to the actual sensory experience with salt rather than a physiological regulatory process (Leshem, 2009.
Most research on the sensory effects of lowering sodium intake was conducted over 20 years ago, leaving many questions unanswered. It is not known whether it is necessary to reduce total sodium intake to obtain sensory accommodation or whether it would occur if salt were reduced in a single product category, such as soup or bread. Would consumers begin to prefer lower-sodium soup or bread if their overall sodium intake was not reduced? Would judicious consumption of very salty food items (e.g., olives, anchovies, certain cheeses, processed meats) inhibit these sensory changes in the context of an overall lower-salt diet? How long do such sensory changes persist, and how resistant would they be to shifts back upward when an individual temporarily goes off the low-sodium diet? Most importantly, this mechanism of decreasing the desire for salt has not been tested in young children, for whom it might be particularly effective. The elimination of added salt in commercially prepared baby food over 30 years ago (Barness et al., 1981) might have been expected to reduce salt preference in children, but no data are available to test this hypothesis.
If salt intake from foods could be reduced on a population-wide basis, consumers’ preference for salty foods would likely shift downward. It will be critical to monitor this proposed shift in preference along with changes in overall consumption in any nationwide salt reduction program.
8.2. Sensory Strategies for Reducing Salt Content in Food
8.2.1. Gradual Reduction Without Detection
One approach to changing ingredients in foods without consumer awareness is to make the change gradually (Dubow and Childs, 1998). Perceptual studies show that people are generally unable to detect differences between two concentrations of a taste substance when the difference is less than approximately 10 percent (called a Just Noticeable Difference [JND]; Pfaffmann et al., 1971). However, this estimate may be misleading because it is based on sensory tests with pure taste solutions, not real foods. Foods are much more chemically complex, making it more difficult to identify changes in individual ingredients. M. Gillette1 suggests that the JND in foods is more likely 20 percent, so a change of 15 percent would not be noticed. However, at the committee’s public information-gathering workshop (March 30, 2009), a representative reported the opposite in some cases, with sodium reductions well below 10 percent resulting in a significant loss of palatability. The other sensory actions of salt may be characterized by smaller JNDs. For each food, this is an empirical question requiring data to determine the size of a detectable salt reduction. More research in salt-flavor interactions may reveal general principles for predictions in different food systems. Based on this reasoning, a gradual reduction of salt in food, in incremental steps, would go unnoticed by the consumer. Girgis et al. (2003) reported that 25 percent of the salt in bread could be eliminated, over a cumulative series of small decreases, without people recognizing a taste change (Cauvain, 2007). However, all sellers of bread would have to make this reduction; otherwise, the changes would be noticed, and the reduced sodium version would be less preferred.
This is an attractive strategy for reducing salt in foods while maintaining their acceptability, and several food manufacturers are reported to have already undertaken it. However, industry has not undertaken reduction of sodium across all foods, so there may be some individual products for which reductions may be limited. It is likely that there will be a limit to reductions that can be achieved by simply lowering sodium content without additional reformulation and taste changes, but there are no published data testing the limits of this strategy. For many foods, further reductions may not be possible while maintaining consumer palatability. Determination of where the point of limited reductions resides will vary by food item and is a focus of industry research during the reformation process. Since salt has many sensory functions in foods in addition to making it taste salty, it is unclear whether changes in these other functions would go unnoticed following small reductions or whether additional changes in food formulations would be required.
8.2.2. Low-Sodium Foods and Ad Libitum Salt Use
Sodium intake may be reduced by providing lower-salt food and allowing people to use a salt shaker to add back as much salt as desired (i.e., ad libitum salt use). In one study (Figure 3-6), sodium intake from clinically prepared foods decreased from an average of 3,100 mg/d to an average of 1,600 mg/d over a 13-week period, and participants were permitted unlimited use of a salt shaker to salt their food to taste. Less than 20 percent of the overall sodium removed during food preparation was replaced by increased use of table salt, measured without participants’ knowledge (Beauchamp et al., 1987.
In another study, a similar lack of salt replacement by use of table salt was found when students were fed regular or reduced-sodium beef stew. Only 22 percent of the removed sodium was replaced by table salt when the lower-sodium stew was served (Shepherd et al., 1989.
In both studies, the failure to compensate was likely due to salt being added to the surface of the food rather than suffused throughout, requiring less to obtain a sufficient salt taste. As only a small percentage of salt in the U.S. diet comes from salt shakers, recommending ceasing salt use at the table may be counterproductive (MacGregor and de Wardener, 1998). A better approach may be to use lower-sodium foods but permit judicious use of added salt when needed to reach a sufficiently salty and flavorful sensory profile.
8.2.3. Alternative Flavors and Flavoring Techniques
Some salt in foods can be replaced with other taste or flavor compounds or through other flavor strategies or techniques, added by processors, chefs, or consumers, or created during food preparation (e.g., cooking).
A prominent example of an added compound involves glutamic
