Low salt, can you copy the "sugar-free" way to get rich?
Do you have a high salt value?
If you want to ask about the epidemic food, snail powder is definitely one. The salty and spicy taste makes many people want to stop.
There are many reasons for the popularity of snail powder, and there is also a certain scientific basis from the taste of food. Studies have found that salty taste helps to resist anxiety and pessimism, so many people like to eat salty things to stimulate taste buds when they have no appetite because of anxiety.
In addition to snail powder, popular foods such as spicy strips, stinky tofu, boneless chicken feet, and braised cold food all have this characteristic of heavy taste. The most indispensable seasoning for making heavy food is salt.
It is said that salt is the "top of all tastes", but it does not mean that the higher the salt value, the better. Excessive salt intake will increase the burden on the kidneys and cause a series of diseases such as obesity and hypertension. And many of us are just "salt is not bad."
Dietary Guidelines for China Residents suggest that adults should consume less than 6 grams of salt every day. However, according to the investigation of the nutritional status of Chinese residents, the average daily salt intake of Chinese residents aged 65,438+08 and above in 2065,438+02 was estimated to be around 12g, far exceeding the recommended value.
The main component of salt is sodium chloride. According to the report of The Lancet, an authoritative international medical journal, in many East Asian countries, including China, excessive sodium intake is the leading cause of death caused by unscientific diet.
To this end, the National Health and Wellness Committee launched the special action of "three reductions and three benefits for health", in which "three reductions" refers to reducing salt, oil and sugar.
The concept of reducing oil and sugar has gradually taken root in people's hearts. Almost everyone knows that fried foods should be eaten less, and sugar-free sugar-free foods have become a major trend. But in terms of salt reduction, the development of the market is obviously not as good as the latter two.
The Key Words of Healthy Eating in 2020 published by Innova Market Insights, a food market research institution, mentioned that in addition to the trend of low sugar and low fat, low salt is also becoming a new healthy trend.
Sugar-free is easy, but salt reduction is difficult.
For the future development of salt-reduced food, many people expect it to embark on the road of "predecessor" sugar-free food.
In recent years, the concept of "sugar-free" has exploded unprecedentedly, and "0 candy" and "0 card" have become hot labels on food shelves, and they have also become highly sought after lifestyles.
According to the report of Zhiyan Consulting, the market scale of sugar-free beverages has increased from10.66 billion yuan in 2004 to10.638+0.78 billion yuan in 2020, with an annual growth rate of 38.69%, far exceeding the overall growth rate of the beverage industry. With the help of the concept of "sugar-free", the valuation of Yuan Qi forest has risen to 654.38+04 billion in four years.
In contrast, the "salt reduction" track is empty, and it is difficult to find online and offline.
This may be because salt is really delicious and really can't stop.
"Salt has a great influence on taste. Without salt, many dishes (vegetables) will be difficult to eat, so it is particularly difficult to reduce salt. " Ruan, director of the Science and Technology Department of Kexin Food and Nutrition Information Exchange Center, told reporters that in fact, most people pursue taste far more than health in their diet.
However, you don't have to blame yourself for being too greedy Lin Yishan, chief scientist of Frito-Lay, which produces happy potato chips, also found that people can not eat sweets for a day or two, but they must not eat salt for a day. "Unconscious eating caused by salt is also one of the secrets of potato chip companies to make money."
It is precisely because of this that salty food firmly occupies the "C position on the tip of the tongue". According to the report released by Zhiyan Consulting, among the top five categories of leisure snacks with the fastest growth rate in China, leisure halogen products, puffed food, roasted seeds and nuts and candied fruit occupy four seats, all of which are "big salt fields" without exception.
It is difficult for people to give up the salty taste, coupled with the growing caution about sweetness, many originally sweet foods are also eyeing the salty track.
From the salty and sweet yogurt represented by cheese and sea salt, the yogurt industry first "has problems"; After the salty egg yolk flavor ice cream became an instant hit, Northeast Iron Pot Ice Cream, Changsha Stinky Tofu Ice Cream and Shandong ice milk with Onion went further and further on the road of curiosity. Not to mention Oreo with spicy chicken wings and chocolate with grapefruit and pepper. ...
According to Mintel data, 50% of urban consumers in China are interested in snack products with exotic flavor (such as salty and sweet taste).
Is there a future for salt-reduced food?
Naturally, there are enterprises that go against the trend.
PepsiCo launched a series of potato chips with 50% salt reduction, and used other low-sodium seasonings to match a variety of flavors, including original flavor, cheddar cheese and sour cream flavor, barbecue flavor and so on. To make up for the loss of taste caused by the decrease of salinity.
"Salt-reduced food will be a development trend from the perspective of corporate marketing, but personally, the sales volume should not be very good." Ruan believes that foods that reduce salt, sugar and oil are more likely to stay in some marketing to cater to the current health situation.
In Ruan's view, most people's main diet scene is still at home. Enterprises reduce salt, oil and sugar. After the price reduction, consumers feel sick. After returning home, it is inevitable to cook more food rich in salt, oil and polysaccharide to "treat" yourself. This is the psychology of most ordinary people.
"From some data released by the industry now, although the growth rate of sugar-free foods is very fast, its sales volume is still very low compared with sugary foods and drinks." Yan said.
Wu Jia, a registered dietitian in China, also believes that the traditional tastes and eating habits of China people have greatly affected the development of salt-reduced foods.
"Compared with the whole world, China people don't eat much sugar, so' low sugar' is relatively easy; However, from salty snacks, suddenly accepting' low salt' will definitely not be used to it. At the same time, the harm of eating more salt is far less significant than eating sugar, and it often takes many years to appear, which is difficult to arouse people's vigilance. " Wu Jia believes that consumers' choice will be pushed back to the industry.
In addition to consumers can not do without salt, it is equally difficult for enterprises to reduce salt.
"For production enterprises, salt reduction is not like reducing sugar, as long as you put less sugar or substitute sugar." Wu Jia said that in many processed foods, salt is a necessary additive, which can play the role of anti-corrosion, water retention and smoothness, such as the ham sausage we often eat. If the salt changes, the whole formula may change, which is a great test for the process.
So, is it possible to find a kind of "salt substitute" like sugar substitute?
"At present, there are few substitutes for salt. The common method in food industry is to replace sodium chloride with potassium chloride, such as low sodium salt seen in the market. But the taste of potassium is not very good, it will be a little bitter, and some people can't adapt. " Wu Jia explained.
"But in any case, I still think and hope that low-salt food is the future development trend." Wu Jia introduced that many institutions, including WHO, are promoting salt reduction and have achieved good results. "For example, starting from the complementary food for infants and young children, subtracting the salt first will help to cultivate the relatively light taste of children from an early age. Relevant data from WHO also pointed out that salt reduction of packaged foods for infants and young children in other countries has played a very good role. "
Ruan also suggested that some high-salt foods can be eaten less in daily life, such as pickles and pickled foods. "First control the salt content, then gradually reduce it, and the taste needs to be slowly adjusted."
Do you eat too much? Do you want to reduce salt? (Zuo Yukun)