How the Salt Business Took Over Our Food

Sugar gets the brunt of today’s health-food fury, but salt should not be forgotten. For every piece of hate mail (or dirty comment) about high fructose corn syrup in our ketchup, we should be writing another for high sodium levels. Look at the percentage of our daily sodium we get in any frozen dinner or can of soup. Overconsumption of salt is every bit as guilty in the poor state of general health as sugar and fat.

Like sugar and fat, normal levels of salt in real food is actually beneficial to our health, a necessity even, but somewhere along the line, things got way out of hand. More accurately, when the food we eat no longer came from our hands, salt became a big business. After all, everybody’s got to eat, and food’s got to last. Unfortunately, our health has never featured much in business practices.

A Long-standing Relationship

Though many people instinctively reach for the shaker before eating, the majority of salt we eat is less for flavoring than preservation. Since ancient times, people have been using salt to protect against food spoilage. Salt basically dehydrates food, creating an environment unsuitable for bacteria. Thus, super salty food has a longer shelf life. Nowadays, the longer it can stay on the shelf, the more likely someone will buy it.

Way back when, like the beginning of the last century, when refrigeration still relied on ice blocks, preserving with salt meant a variety of food, especially cheeses and meats, could be available for longer. Plus, it actually added to the flavor. When it came to vegetables, canning, pickling, and fermenting were all viable options, but these methods didn’t require adding gobs of salt as is done today. At that time, salt was a great benefit to people.

Somewhere between then and now, something went horribly wrong.

Salt’s Big Decline

Problems arose yet again with mass food production rather than sprinkling salt over the food on our plate. Today, salt is crammed into mostly everything in a bag, can, jar, or box. Its preservative qualities allow companies to maintain product shelf life inexpensively, with the added bonus of a cheaper flavoring agent than herbs and spices. Consequently, they seemed to just keep adding more.

Because fresh food spoils, creating revenue losses, and less salty foods require more expensive flavoring agents, sodium levels rose to ridiculous rates, right along with profits. According to Michael Moss, author of “Salt, Sugar, Fat,” the food industry has known all along that these methods were horribly harmful, but even for companies worried for customer’s health, Wall Street’s demand for higher profits have maintained the status quo.

The New Take on Sodium

So, salt used to be a good and necessary thing. Then, the food industry put its negative mojo on our health. Now, it’s imperative to be very aware of the sodium content of the processed foods we buy. Buying low sodium or no-salt added versions of products is one option, as are salt substitutes. In the end, however, the best option is to get off the processed stuff and visit the produce aisle or, better yet, the fruit and veg market.

Even so, salt is still important for digestion, hydration, and circulation. It should be in our diet. Some folks make a compelling case for table salt being just fine despite the recent rise of “healthier,” much more expensive versions like Himalayan pink salt and Hawaiian black salt. Others contend that these new products offer something better. Whichever the case, this debate is only relevant when we’ve ditched the high-sodium, processed products and are looking to add some good salts to our own recipes.

Image source: Jorge Royan / Wikipedia Commons