Effects on taste of salt reduction in bread

There is always a lot of debate on the effects of diet on our health. The amount of salt we consume, and the potential adverse effects of that consumption, is never too far from that debate.

The World Health Organisation “Sodium intake for adults and children Guideline (2013)” summarises much of the evidence base on this topic and points out the benefits of salt reduction in non-communicable disease (notably cardiovascular disease) prevention and management.

What we did

We designed an experimental trial to see if we could reduce the salt intake in bread (one of the largest contributors to salt in our diet) without impacting on taste.

We involved 360 healthy adults. Each tasted each of five different types of fresh white bread made with different amounts of salt (sodium chloride), potassium chloride as a salt substitute, or no salt. They scored them for taste preference on a chart.

What we found
The palatability of the bread was directly related to its sodium content. Bread made with the standard amount of salt currently recommended in the UK (1 g per 100 g bread) had the highest average palatability score, and that with no salt the least. Bread made with a 50% reduction in salt (0.5 g per 100 g bread) had a score close enough to the score of the standard bread. Potassium did not improve things when it substituted for sodium.

Bottom line
Bread made with 50% less salt than currently recommended in the UK was as palatable as bread made with a standard amount of salt. The salt content of bread could be reduced without a change in acceptability. Consumers could be given a choice of bread with different salt contents.

Our study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research School for Primary care Research and will shortly be published. The full draft of the paper (before it has been peer-reviewed) can be found here.