WHY NOT A "LOW" SALT PICKLE?

Hardly a day passes without hearing about the "Salt Reduction Campaigns" being undertaken in different countries, the noble intention behind such moves being protecting their population from the ill-effects of high salt content in foods on their health. True, sodium is one of the critical nutrient minerals, essential for many biological functions in human beings and its health protecting role is well established. The delicate solute balance in body fluids influence many body functions and maintaining this balance depends on the diet and the life style followed by a person. Of course genetics also can play a role in sodium balance and thanks to modern day medicines such handicaps can be overcome. In contrast excessive sodium intake through unsound diets can be dangerous, the expressed syndrome being high blood pressure or hyper tension and many other health afflictions.

Pickle is considered an essential food adjunct in many parts of India and they are invariably made from salt stocks of raw fruits or vegetables prepared during the season. Naturally such salt stocks can contain high amounts of salt though during pickle making its concentration is diluted to some extent but it is still considered too high for regular consumption. Daily pickle consumption can vary between 5 gm to 25 gm per person depending on the eating habits of people and daily consumption of salt from pickle alone can be as high as 1-4 gm per day equivalent to 300 mg to 1300 mg of sodium. what about other foods like savories, breakfast foods, curry preparations, papads, soups, salads etc all of them adding on to the daily salt consumption very significantly. In the UK, Australia and the US, recommended daily intake levels of salt are between 4 gm and 7 gm. Many nutrition experts feel that an intake of 500 mg of sodium equivalent to 1.4 gm of salt would be adequate to maintain electrolyte balance in the body. Of course healthy human kidneys generally ensure electrolyte-water balance by regulating the fluid intake and out put up to a limit.

Knowing well that hypernatremia situation can raise the risk of developing osteoporosis, ulcers, gastric cancer etc it is advisable to restrict the salt intake as much as possible. One sure way is to restrict consumption of high salt products like pickles, snacks and savories both home made as well as from processed food industry. In India the two products that contain extremely high salt levels are pickles and papads. Having used to the consumption of these two items of almost every day consumption, it is necessary to moderate the salt content rather than banning them due to fear of damages from salt. Salt as a preservative was being used for centuries before the advent of modern preservation technologies and probably did not get the focus it deserved from food scientists because of its low technology status, the major production of salt preserved products being confined to cottage scale sector. The situation has now changed with organized sector getting into pickles in a big way and any alternate technology developed to reduce salt in this product will have better chance of adoption. As for papads the precise role of salt in its quality is still not clear though some studies indicate it has more to do with lateral expansion during frying than as a preservative.

If one can take a leaf out of Japanese pickle Umeboshi which is a salt preserved product made from the plum like fruit Ume and used as an adjunct with rice, it should be possible to make low salt pickles in India also by maneuvering the acid-salt proportion in the recipes. Umeboshi is a dry pickle and therefore the water activity must be very low making it safe from any microbial contamination. Indian pickles can be made into dry concentrated versions which can be reconstituted adding water at the time of consumption and once the role of salt as a preservative is made subservient to low moisture content for preservation, the end product made by the consumer will carry much less salt than a normal commercially marketed RTE pickle. Also possible would be concentrated pickle containing spices 2-3 times more than the normal pickle and diluting further at the consumer end as when it is to be consumed. There can be many other technological options and Indian food scientists owe to the consumer to come out with a modified technology of pickle making that will cut down sodium intake very significantly. .

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

PICKLES AND SOUPS-THE COMMON DENOMINATOR

Pickles are considered delicious in the Indian cuisine system and there are hundreds of varieties of pickles generally based on green fruits and firm vegetables. Thus we have pickles made from green mango, lime/lemon, karonda, cucumber, green chillies, Indian gooseberry (Amla) etc either singly or in combinations called mixed pickles. Similarly we have a slightly different product concept from pickle called Thokku which are made by grinding the materials and cooking with red chilli, salt, tamarind pulp and sesame oil. Invariably the pickles and thokkus contain high salt content which along with acidity, preserves them for long. There are some pickle products with shelf life more than 2 years and surprisingly even to day the traditional technology for making them remains almost the same, though considerable improvements have been seen in the handling operations to make them more hygienic and safer. According to Fruit Products Order (FPO) regulations, a pickle should have a minimum of 12% salt and 1.2% acidity. Generally commercial products contain 13-19% salts as industry does not want to take risks of spoilage. Individual pickle consumption is about 5-10g which delivers a salt level of 1g and multiple servings can dramatically increase salt intake at least for some people.

Soups are important part of western cuisine and are made from juices and pulps of fruits, vegetables, lentils and animal food raw materials. During early part of twentieth Century, soups were made from fresh raw materials as the food industry had not developed well then but modern soup products are made from canned materials which are invariably processed adding lot of salts. While freshly made vegetable soups do not need too much salt for the required taste, those prepared from canned materials contain unacceptable salt levels at modern nutrition yardsticks. The quantity of soups consumed varies between 250 ml and 500 ml depending on the preferences of individuals. The concern here is the amount of salt ingested in a single serving which can be 1/3 to 1/2 of the RDA! Since over consumption of salt is implicated in hyper tension disorders, it is a relevant question whether soup consumption calls for moderation.

Implication of soups in developing stomach cancer is a serious matter worthy of investigation further. The mechanism as to how salt induces stomach cancer is yet to be elucidated. But like any other foods the answer lies in moderating the consumption rather than indicting the product. What is forgotten in this cacophony is that many soups are rich sources of cancer fighting phytochemicals like lycopenes, flavonoids etc and more frequent consumption of such vegetable soups based on carrot, tomato, cabbage, broccoli, some herbs can be more beneficial. Though salt does pose a risk, fresh vegetable soups require much less salt and can be consumed safely in moderate quantities. Probably people seem to be aware of the dangers lurking behind the bowl of soup, that in many parties the quantity of soups served is going down progressively. In most of the places the soup size does not exceed 120 to 180 ml and this is naturally an encouraging development from the health perspective. It is not to be forgotten that soup is one of the most refreshing appetizer and it does offer a convenient medium for delivery of many natural health friendly phytochemicals with vast choices.

Though pickle and soup have salt as the common denominator, the former does not pose much of a risk since it is a self-limiting adjunct, the quantity that can be consumed being limited by its high salty and 'hot' taste notes. In contrast there is a tendency to consume soups in larger quantities delivering higher salt levels in the process. Probably some basic sensory studies are called for in coming up with the possibility of newer soup formulations with lesser salt levels but without compromising the salty taste to any significant extent. Normal healthy adult should not be scared of consuming both pickles and soups in moderate quantities, though developing aptitude for foods with less and less salt may be rewarding in the long run.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/