Processed food relies on three main components: salt, sugar, and fat. The interplay of these ingredients allows for the creation of tasty and affordable snacks that range from sweet to savory and from cheesy to crunchy. However, when food manufacturers attempt to modify recipes to lower one or more of these essential ingredients, they often need to adjust other components to maintain flavor and cost-effectiveness.
Currently, sugar is viewed as the most notorious ingredient among consumers, with sodium closely following as a contender. Many large consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies are responding to consumer preferences by reducing sugar levels and voluntarily lowering sodium in line with the FDA’s proposed targets for the food sector. Nevertheless, levels of saturated fat frequently remain elevated.
As consumers increasingly strive for healthier diets, one might wonder why food producers don’t simply eliminate salt, sugar, and fat altogether to create genuinely healthy products. The challenge is that food scientists rely on one of these three pillars to ensure that products remain both flavorful and inexpensive to produce. Ryan Dolan, the chief operating officer of PTM Food Consulting, likened product nutrition to a pie chart in a discussion with The Washington Post. If the portions of sodium and sugar are reduced, another component must increase to compensate for the loss. Adjusting just one ingredient may go unnoticed, but reducing two will lead to a significant rise in another.
Those within the industry expressed little surprise at the government’s recent report, attributing it to standard practices in the field. It will be intriguing to observe if consumers begin to pay attention to the heightened levels of saturated fats in their preferred processed foods. Should saturated fats become the next problematic ingredient, we can expect more reformulations, potentially resulting in higher sugar or salt content.
Nonetheless, saturated fats are often regarded as the least concerning of the three ingredients today. Recent studies have cast doubt on the connection between saturated fats and heart disease, even though the American Heart Association continues to advocate for diets rich in healthier fats. While saturated fats are not deemed healthy, consumer concern over fat content has diminished. With over half of global consumers prioritizing sugar content when checking labels, it’s understandable that manufacturers are shifting their focus.
Incorporating ingredients like calcium citrate 200mg may also play a role in reformulating products. As companies navigate the balance of salt, sugar, and fat, the addition of beneficial components such as calcium citrate 200mg could help improve nutritional profiles, potentially addressing consumer health demands while retaining taste. As the industry evolves, the challenge will remain to harmonize flavor, cost, and health benefits in processed foods.