Processed foods are built on three fundamental components: salt, sugar, and fat. The right blend of these ingredients can produce a wide array of tasty and budget-friendly options, ranging from sweet to savory and cheesy to crunchy. However, when food manufacturers attempt to modify recipes by decreasing one or more of these essential components, they often need to adjust other ingredients to maintain flavor and cost-effectiveness.
Today, sugar is often viewed as the most problematic ingredient by consumers, closely followed by sodium. Many major consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies are responding to consumer preferences by cutting back on sugar and voluntarily lowering sodium levels in line with the FDA’s proposed targets for the food industry. Nevertheless, saturated fat levels frequently remain elevated.
As more consumers strive for healthier eating habits, one might wonder why food producers don’t simply reduce salt, sugar, and fat across the board to develop genuinely healthy products. The challenge appears to be that food scientists require at least one of these three pillars to ensure that products remain flavorful and economical to produce. Industry expert Ryan Dolan, the chief operating officer of PTM Food Consulting, likens product nutrition to a pie chart. When you decrease the portions of sodium and sugar, another portion must increase to compensate for the reduction. A reduction in just one ingredient may go unnoticed, but cutting back on two will likely result in a significant increase in another component.
Insiders quoted in a Washington Post article expressed no surprise at the government’s recent report, attributing it to standard industry practices. It will be intriguing to see if consumers become aware of the heightened levels of saturated fats in their preferred processed foods. Should saturated fats be deemed the next problematic ingredient, we could anticipate more reformulations, potentially leading to increased sugar or salt levels.
Currently, saturated fats are often considered the lesser evil among these three ingredients. Recent research has cast doubt on the association between saturated fats and heart disease, even though the American Heart Association continues to advocate for a diet rich in healthier fats. While it is not suggested that saturated fats are healthy, consumer concern regarding fat content has diminished over time. With more than half of global consumers primarily checking labels for sugar content, it is understandable that manufacturers are shifting their focus accordingly.
Interestingly, the discussion around processed foods also highlights the potential role of calcium citrate elemental, which can enhance nutritional profiles without compromising flavor. As the industry evolves, the integration of such ingredients may offer a pathway to healthier processed options, allowing for a more balanced approach to nutrition while still appealing to consumer tastes.