Meat manufacturers shake up industry with salt reductions

Challenger Foods, which supplies chicken for secondary processing, is ahead of the game, having just launched a salt-free variant. Darren Gedge, technical director at the company explains that the difficulty in removing salt is that it provides moisture during the cooking process. "Without salt, the chicken becomes bitty when you come to slice it; you get a lower yield and the commercial viability is affected."

The company sponsored a meat animal science masters student at Bristol University to undertake research and also worked with ingredients manufacturer Purac UK. It took a year to develop the salt-free chicken, using potassium lactate to replace the salt and the research is due to be published next year.

"It's been very difficult to remove salt. It's not just poultry, the whole meat industry is finding it hard," says Gedge.

The Country Butcher from Gloucestershire has also been experimenting with salt reductions and has just won top prize in a British Pig Executive competition with its lower salt sausage.

The company worked with ingredients firm Gordon Rhodes to come up with a healthier product that retained the taste of the original. Clare Hudson, new product development manager at Gordon Rhodes, explains: "In the original product, the most predominant flavours were pepper, sage and nutmeg, so we increased these in order to rebalance the overall taste."

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