Salt

1. Salt plays a major role in dough formation, fermentation rate and flavour and eating properties of bread.
2. Medical evidence shows that too much salt (sodium) in the diet can contribute to high blood pressure and has been linked to increased risk of other diseases.
3. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has set a target of reducing the average salt consumption for adults to 6g a day.
4. Since the mid 1980s, the baking industry has been actively reducing salt in bread and working closely with the FSA, has made significant strides to meet the agreed targets.
5. Since the introduction of the FSA targets for foods, Federation of Bakers’ (FOB) members have continued to implement salt reductions enabling the 2010 target to be met in 2009. This is in addition to reductions made prior to the introduction of the FSA targets.
6. By 2010 salt in bread has been reduced by 37% by comparison to levels in 2000.

In 1994, the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy (COMA) recommended reducing the average salt intake of the population from 9g to 6g a day, in its report entitled Nutritional Aspects of Cardiovascular Disease. This recommendation was based on evidence of a link between high salt intake and high blood pressure (also called hypertension).

In 2003 the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN), in its report on Salt and Health, reviewed the evidence since 1994 to consider if COMA’s previous recommendation to reduce the salt intakes of the population was still valid.

SACN concluded that the evidence for a link between salt intake and blood pressure had increased since 1994 and confirmed that the population as a whole would benefit from reducing their intake to 6g per day. SACN also set lower recommended maximum levels of salt intake for babies and children for the first time.

Following a public consultation in August 2005, the FSA published voluntary salt reduction targets for many food categories in March 2006.

Several years prior to the 2006 FSA targets, the baking industry had been reducing salt in bread.   By 2004 salt in bread had been reduced by 24%.  The Federation of Bakers entered into discussions with the FSA to agree a target for salt reduction by 2010, which was set at 0.43g sodium per 100 grammes (equivalent to 1.1g salt per 100g).  This resulted in bread having further reductions of 17.6% and a total net reduction of 37% taking into account reductions in previous years.

The Federation has advised the FSA that we cannot subscribe to the 2012 target of 0.4g sodium per 100g. The target is technologically challenging, however FOB members will continue to endeavour to reduce salt, but at this time they cannot confirm that the target will be achieved. The FOB is also contributing to ongoing research to try and establish what other means are available to reduce salt in bread. However everyone, including the FSA, has acknowledged that there is no obvious solution.

The reduction of salt in bread thus far has been immensely challenging for the entire industry as salt plays such a critical role in dough formation.  It is widely recognised that any change that may diminish the flavour would be counterproductive to the objective of improving the nation’s diet as it is acknowledged that bread plays such an important role in a healthy balanced diet.

The role of salt in bread

Salt plays a major role in dough formation, fermentation rate and flavour and eating properties of bread.

Dough formation and handling

Sodium chloride increases dough strength and improves the elasticity.  The rate of dough development is influenced by salt content and any adjustment in strength is reduced irrespective of flour protein level, although lower protein doughs will suffer more than higher protein. This weakening of the dough strength results in poorer crumb strength; the crumb is less resilient, shorter and will show decreased butter-ability.  If taken to the extreme the crumb will break up and crumble.

The FSA funded research project also demonstrated that moulding of bread dough becomes more difficult at lower salt contents when the dough temperature is elevated or when there is a delay between mixing and moulding.

Fermentation rate and gelatinisation

Salt has a measurable effect on the temperature of starch gelatinisation (i.e. the temperature at which starch sets) - higher salt levels lead to a higher gelatinisation temperature. This effect may explain why loaf volume can be impacted by salt reduction.

Flavour and eating properties

The flavour of baked bread is a combination of many flavour compounds in crumb and crust but salt plays a very significant role in flavour enhancement and the way bread ‘eats’.  Salt stimulates both the production of saliva in the mouth and the flavour receptors on the tongue; therefore consumer response shows a preference for higher levels of salt.  Several sensory satisfaction surveys demonstrate the flavour contribution of salt.  Generally, as salt flavour reduces, the bread can be described as becoming bland and lacking in distinction.  The development of fermentation flavours in bread, not generally associated with the Chorleywood bread making process, alters the pH of the bread and can have a similar effect in the mouth and go some way to replacing salt, although the higher the pH the more chewy bread becomes.  Increased sugar levels help bread flavour and crust colour lost in salt reduction.

What is the difference between sodium and salt?

Salt is also called sodium chloride. It's the sodium in salt that can be bad for your health.  Sodium is usually listed in the nutrition information on food labels. Salt is also listed on some foods, but not all.  If you know how much sodium is in a food, you can work out roughly the amount of salt it contains by multiplying the sodium by 2.5. So if a portion of food contains 1.2g sodium then it contains about 3g salt.

How will I know how much salt is in the bread that I buy?

The sodium and salt content are clearly labelled on the packs of wrapped bread you buy in your local shops. For unwrapped bread, the baker should be able to give you the details.