AUGUST 20248IN MY OPINIONSodium chloride, more commonly known as table salt, serves many functions in foods, imparting flavor, texture, and preservation and providing the essential nutrient sodium to the human body. However, when consumed in excess, elevated sodium intake has been linked to adverse health effects, including hypertension, cardiovas-cular disease, gastric cancer, obesity, osteoporosis, kidney disease, and Alzheimer's. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 2.5 million deaths could be prevented annually if global sodium consumption was reduced to recommended levels, from 3,400 to 2,300 mg per day. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 70 percent of sodium consumption comes from processed and packaged foods, as well as restaurant meals like soup, pizza, cured meat, cheese, and other savory dishes. Both domestic and global initiatives exist to actively seek sodium reduction strategies across food categories. In fact, the global sodium reduction ingredients market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12 percent from 2022 to 2027.As a food preservative, sodium has been utilized since at least 2000 BC, though refrigeration and improvements in processing, packaging, transport, and storage have reduced the reliance on high sodium levels to prevent microbial growth. Sodium affects the availability of water in foods, impeding the growth of spoilage and pathogenic organisms and working in tandem with intrinsic (e.g., pH, moisture, preservatives, competing microflora) and extrin-sic (e.g., temperature, modified atmosphere packaging) factors to ensure safety and quality of foods. Examples of common sodium-based preservatives are given in Table 1.IMPACT OF SODIUM-BASED FOOD PRESERVATIVESBY SARAH ENGSTROM, SENIOR SCIENTIST, GRANDE CUSTOM INGREDIENTS GROUPSarah Engstrom
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