Salt reduction in cheese by natural milk minerals

Kristiina Oikarinen Product Developer

Valio Ltd, Research & Development

kristiina.oikarinen@valio.fi

© Valio Oy

Salt in our diet

• Salt sources:

– Processed &

restaurant food

– Rapid urbanization

– Changing lifestyles

• Salt intake – Currently the average salt intake is 9-12 g/day

– Excess salt in diet increases the risk of health problems, such as hypertension

*World Health Organisation 2

Bread

Soup

Cheese

Sausage

© Valio Oy TASTE

Healthy food with great taste…

• Idealistic, but how to do this…

– Salt gives taste and functions as flavour enhancer

– Reducing salt in products without compensation leads to bland-tasting products

– Consumer research confirms that people only eat healthy food if it tastes good!

*The Henley Centre

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Salt function in food

• What is the function of salt?

– Salt improves the taste of food.

– Many important roles in food processes – e.g. effects to the properties of dough and drives the cheese ripening.

– Acts as a preservative.

• Effects on taste?

– Decreasing salt amount in food leads to tasteless food

salt needs to be replaced

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Salt replacing

• How it can be replaced?

– Additives

– Other minerals

– Natural flavor boosters

• In cheese this could be specific bacteria strains that will give more intense and salty taste

• Adaptating consumers to lower salt level over time..

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Effects of salt replacing on consumer acceptance

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es E-c od

Low salt bland tasting food, shorter shelf life

Other minerals side/after taste (bitter, metallic etc.)

Additives/aromas

Consumers may lower their expectations to the product with ”less salt” -claims..

Not possible for every product (e.g. cheese)

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Communication around salt-reduction

Liem & Zandstra, 2010

Label information creates

expectations that drive the

perception and liking of a

product

Same soups, same salt level,

but different labels…

..the one with the label “Now

with reduced salt” is perceived

as the least salty

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Salt substitutes

• KCl also tastes salty

– However, it also gives a bitter taste

• Mg, NH4Cl bitter

• Intake of potassium is promoted – For health reasons

• Works as an antagonist to Sodium effects

These type of “salt substitutes” are easy to use!

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Can we find a new good tasting cheese, with low salt..?

Cheese is one of the high salt

containing products

A Solution: Milk Minerals!

Work for finding an innovative

way to lower the salt level..

?

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• in Finland since 1980’s salt labelling legislation and

the input of food industry replacing table salt by

mineral salts have led to the reduction in sodium

intake of ~20-30%*

• Breakthrough technologies needed for

further reductions >30%..

• Valio R&D works a lot with fractionating

technologies, and one of the fractions that forms in filtration processes is the milk mineral fraction

*(Karppanen and Mervaala, 2006)

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• Development of filtration techniques

made possible to fractionate

different components of milk

• Basic components of cheese, fat

and casein can be separated and

concentrated using various

membranes and diafiltration

• One fraction contains mainly the

milk salts, which are in fact a fraction

comparable with the salt

composition of saliva

This fraction is potential for

salting cheese or other

products

Milk mineral salt

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Milk mineral composition

Highest consentrations: P, Citrate, Ca, K

Potassium/Sodium ~2.8 (in mineral salt typically ~0.85)

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Mineral Concentration (mg/kg)

Calcium 1043-1283

Magnesium 97-146

Inorganic phosphate 1805-2185

Total phosphorus 930-992

Citrate 1323-2079

Sodium 391-644

Potassium 1212-1681

Chloride 772-1207

Modified from: F. Gaucheron, Reprod. Nutr. Dev. 45 (2005) 473–483

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Regular Polar Cheese contains 1,5% salt (Na 0,6%) Low sodium Polar contains 0,3% salt (Na 0,12%) Reducing salt content in cheese by using milk salts for salting of cheeses (instead of normal brining)

patent application WO 2011/039414 etc.

Natural milk minerals used as salt substitutes

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• We can make very good-tasting cheeses and spreads with up to 80% less salt.

• But for a claim: 30% salt reduction is already enough! • It is tested in other products (e.g. bread), and it works

there as well. • Important to see whether it gives a slightly metallic

after taste or not. • Plus to check shelf-life of products

Clearly less salt with Milk salt!

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Sensory evaluation (cheese)

• The cheese flavor has been evaluated as fresh, clean and aromatic, even though the salt content (calculated by Na) is around 0,2-0,4 %.

• When salted longer in Milk salt liquid, the taste becomes more metallic. Some people are more sensitive to taste the metallic after taste negative impression

• Any negative effects on cheese structure have not appeared

• Consumers have shown interest in buying low salted cheeses

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14% 10% 28% 38% 10%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

k.a. 4,21

%

Total pleasentness of the cheese (N=29)

1=Really bad 2 3 4 5 6 7=Really good

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Conclusions

• Valio has found a natural way to lower the cheese salt levels as low as 0,2% (NaCl), and still having a pleasant taste profile.

• The salt does not have to be replaced totally by milk minerals >30% less salt is worth of the ”reduced salt” –claim.

• Milk mineral fraction is potential for salting purposes in other food products also!

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affect

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Acknowledgements

Gerrit Smit, Valio Ltd.

Emmi Martikainen, Valio Ltd.

Soila Kananen, Valio Ltd.

Thank you

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