Slashing salt: Iposol eyes potential in Middle East with sodium reduction product

The product, also called Iposol, is made up of one-third sea salt, and two-thirds tap water, containing 28% salt and 9.8% sodium.

The company claims it can replace dry salt, while maintaining the full flavour.

It has been used in breadsticks, pizza, Italian ham, bacon, sausages, turkey, and cream cheese.

Global salt situation​

Steen Wiedemann, CEO of Iposol, said there was a global need to reduce salt/sodium consumption.

Speaking to us at the Gulfood Manufacturing show in Dubai, he said: “In the Middle East region, we consume plenty of bread, cheese, chicken, turkey, which all contain a lot of salt​,” he mentioned.

Citing the World Health Organisation (WHO), he added: “An estimated 2.5 million deaths could be prevented each year if global salt consumption were reduced to the recommended level​.

“Reducing salt intake by just 3g (equivalent to half a teaspoon) a day, can significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure​,” he added.

The WHO had since issued a global target of 5g/day by 2025.

Clean label liquid salt​

In addition to being able to maintain the taste and preservation, despite being lower in sodium content, he added that Iposol can also preserve the crispiness bread.

“Iposol was found to not compromise on taste, shelf life and texture of final products​,” he said.

He told FoodNavigator-Asia​ that Danish Crown is currently using Iposol for its bacon production.

“Today, it has been used in the manufacture and preparation of bacon, ham, turkey, chicken, bread, cheese, and spreads​,” he said.

“It can reduce salt in bacon by 48%, 61% in spread, 36% in cream cheese, and 57% in bread​.”

He said for food manufacturers, there would be no change to the product specification, so what used to be 5g of dry salt, can be replaced by 5mL of liquid salt.

He said the sea salt was obtained from Italy and the tap water, which does not contain chlorine, is from Denmark. The final product is processed in Denmark.

He believes the product “shows potential for health innovation and product improvement in many parts of the global food industry.​”

The idea of liquid salt was initially presented to the company by professors from the Technical University in Milan.