Salt intake reduction using umami substance-incorporated food in the United States

Abstract Background Excessive salt intake has been linked to the development of several non-communicable diseases. Reducing the sodium content of foods is an important global public health activity to achieve salt reduction and health promotion. The objective of this study was to estimate the effect of sodium substitution with umami substances on the reduction of daily salt intake among adults in the United States. The umami substances considered in this study were glutamate, inosinate, and guanilate. Methods Our analysis included 4,139 participants aged 20 years and older from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Four hypothetical scenarios (0%, 30%, 60%, and 90%) on the market share of umami substitute foods were developed. For several food groups, salt reduction rates due to substitution with umami substances were estimated based on previous studies. Daily salt intake corresponding to the NHANES food groups in each scenario was calculated for each participant, and the total daily salt intake was aggregated by gender and 10-year age groups. Results Without compromising the taste, substitution with umami substances can reduce the salt intake among adults in the United States by 5.51–10.54% at the population level, which is equivalent to 0.46–0.88g of salt reduction (women 5.69–10.56% and 0.41–0.76g; men 5.31–10.51% and 0.51–1.01g). Approximately 23.73–20.25% of adults could achieve the World Health Organization’s recommendation of 5g/day. Conclusions Our study provides essential information on the potential salt reduction from sodium replacement with alternatives in the United States. However, the reduced salt intake level still falls short of the WHO recommendation of 5g of salt intake per day.