With consumers becoming more health-conscious about their sodium intake, there’s plenty of room to thrive in the alternative sodium substitute market despite a few challenges.
Key takeaways:
- Sodium intake is a huge health concern, and government agencies and health organizations are doing their best to educate consumers on the risks.
- Too much salt can lead to an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, and stomach cancer.
- As consumers gain an understanding of the risks of too much sodium, there will be an increased demand for substitutes that still taste like regular salt but contain less sodium.
- Food industry companies are taking a stealthy approach by starting to reduce the sodium in their products without informing customers through traditional overt packaging.
- There’s a lot of room for growth in the alternative sodium substitutes market, and MicroSalt®️ can play an important role in the production of great-tasting, healthy snacks.
We all need a little sodium for our bodies to function properly. But when our daily sodium intakes skyrocket, our path to good health becomes riddled with roadblocks such as high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, osteoporosis, and stomach cancer.
Luckily, consumers are becoming more and more aware of the health effects of what they put into their bodies. So when they read food labels and see that a product will push them way past the 2,300 mg recommended daily limit of sodium, they’re much more likely to go for a healthier alternative.
This rise in health consciousness has opened up a tremendous opportunity for food manufacturers who want to ride the low-sodium wave. And rapid improvements in technology have made producing great-tasting, low-sodium snacks easier and more affordable than ever.
If you’re a food manufacturer who’s been thinking about joining the low-sodium revolution, read on to discover how MicroSalt®️ can help position your brand at the forefront of this emerging trend.
Understanding Sodium and Its Effects on Health
The terms table salt and sodium are often used interchangeably, but they actually don’t mean the same thing. Table salt is a crystal-like compound that is prevalent in nature. Its chemical name is sodium chloride. Sodium is a mineral and one of the chemical elements found in salt. What this means for most consumers is that they could stop eating table salt altogether and still be affected by the sodium in their food – especially processed and packaged food.
Of course, our bodies need some sodium just to function. According to the federal government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the recommended daily sodium intake for adult Americans is 2,300 mg, or about 1 teaspoon of salt.
Unfortunately, the average American consumes 3,400 mg or more each day. And that’s a problem because when there’s too much sodium present in the body, it retains fluid to dilute the extra sodium. And this increase in fluid in the bloodstream leads to high blood pressure.
There are a number of variables that impact a person’s blood pressure when they eat salt. Age, weight, race/ethnicity, gender, and existing medical conditions such as diabetes or chronic kidney disease all play a part. But regardless of the contributing factors, high blood pressure is the gateway to heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease, heart failure, osteoporosis, stomach cancer, and even headaches.
Alternative sodium trends in the food industry
In response to consumers’ increasing awareness of the negative impact of excess sodium on their health, food, and beverage manufacturers are turning to salt substitutes to lower the amount of sodium in their products. And for good reason. According to a recent study by Fact.MR, the North American low-sodium salt substitute market is expected to see a compound annual growth rate of 6.2 over the next decade due to the increased demand from more health-conscious consumers.
Within the food industry, there are a few key players to take note of who are making strides in the low-sodium substitute space. Clabber Girl Corp, Texas Sassy Foods, and Sara Lee Corporation are just a few companies that are exploring low-sodium alternatives.
But here’s the rub. While consumers know that reducing their sodium intake is important for their health, they don’t want to do it at the expense of flavor. And that’s a real problem for conventional salt substitutes like potassium chloride because none of them come close to replicating salt’s taste.
And so the food industry’s current approach to marketing reduced-sodium products is to not have a strategy at all. This means food manufacturers are taking what is known as the “stealth” reduction strategy. They aren’t making claims on packaging, but they are quietly finding ways to reduce sodium without overt marketing campaigns.
The industry impact of alternative sodium trends
Government agencies have increased their consumer education when it comes to how sodium negatively impacts health. Armed with information from the likes of the American Heart Association, the FDA, and the CDC, as well as other global health organizations, consumers are looking for healthier sodium alternatives – as long as they taste good. And this demand is only expected to increase as the adverse effects of excess sodium intake become even more widespread.
Along with launching information campaigns, governments around the world are also looking into changing their policies regarding sodium content in food products. With persistent efforts by governments to implement stricter regulations and set lower daily sodium intake targets, food manufacturers are being driven to embrace low-sodium alternatives.
Although government restrictions are forcing the hand of food manufacturers to pursue sodium substitutes and consumers are becoming more health conscious, the industry will be faced with challenges that might slow market growth. Consumers don’t want to sacrifice flavor, and formulating a sodium substitute that tastes similar to regular salt has – until recently – been a challenge. Consumers’ detection of the difference in taste can halt widespread adoption. Perfecting a sodium substitute that most closely resembles the taste of real salt will be key to thriving in this market.
The other problem for manufacturers is cost. Producing lower-sodium alternatives to conventional products is expensive, often requiring an overhaul of processes and/or equipment. And with higher costs, there’s concern that lower-sodium foodstuffs might not be accessible to all segments of the population.
And finally, even with growing awareness of health risks connected to sodium intake, consumers are still not very familiar with sodium alternatives. To increase market growth, more substantial advertising and education campaigns will be necessary to create more consumer demand.
The solution? MicroSalt®
As you can see, the market is ripe with opportunities for food manufacturers who can overcome the challenges of producing full-flavor, affordable low-sodium products. And one of the key players and thought leaders who can help you get there is MicroSalt®️.
MicroSalt® is a healthier and significantly lower-sodium salt substitute that doesn’t compromise on flavor. Our patented, cutting-edge technology creates micro-sized particles that are 100 times smaller than regular salt crystals but taste twice as salty with no bitter aftertaste.
The result? MicroSalt® delivers all the flavor of regular salt for only half the sodium. Using MicroSalt® results in a healthier, significantly lower sodium product that doesn’t compromise on flavor. And even better, because MicroSalt® is still salt, you won’t have to overhaul your production processes to incorporate it into your products, which keeps costs down. It’s a win-win for manufacturers and consumers.
If you’re feeling the pinch to reduce sodium in your products, but you’re unsure what your next steps are, consider using MicroSalt® to provide the same great salty taste with half the sodium. Check out our website to learn more.