Nutrient Essentials Sodium and the Healthy Plate

The scope of my comments will be limited to the production of meat items, specifically, chicken products. I want to touch briefly on the history of salt usage in the meat industry (probably nothing that you are unaware of), alternatives that we are aware of, some of the products that Pilgrim’s pride currently has in the market and finally a few observations that might spark a little lively conversation as we get into the panel discussion later.

I. History - Preservation With respect to history, salt played a very important part in the preservation of meat in the years before refrigeration was readily available. Curing with salt and nitrate was used to extend the shelf life of all types of meats to prevent spoilage, particularly from large animals that could not be readily consumed over the course of just a few days. Curing and smoking meats greatly extended the time that meats could be held prior to consumption and also provided unique flavors that are still in demand today. Additionally, meats were simply heavily salted to preserve them without cure and smoking. The heavy salt served as an antimicrobial by decreasing the water activity in the meat and altering the osmotic pressure to the point that spoilage and other bacteria could not survive. Prior to preparation, the salted meat was placed into fresh water for a period of time to dilute the salt content and then cooked or the excess salt was scraped away, the meat was added to water with vegetables if available to make soup or stew. Again, the salting of meat was another readily accessible, pre-refrigeration method of preserving an important source of protein.

History - Flavor Salt has always been one of the basic flavors distinguishable by the human palate along with sweet, bitter and sour. Many seasonings can be added to meat with very little noticeable effect on flavor, but the addition of a small amount of salt often has a synergistic affect that brings the flavor system alive. Moving to the present for just a minute, a fifth flavor has now been added to the list and it is umami. According to an article entitled I Want My Umami Understanding our mysterious fifth taste, by Kitty Kevin in the July 2007 Stagnito’s New Products Magazine, umami, loosely translated from Japanese (as there is no direct English translation), means delicious taste and is a direct reference to the brothy, savory sensation one gets when enjoying a perfectly seasoned, flavorful food. Specifically, the umami experience is thought to be related to the presence of glutamate for which taste receptors were discovered in 2000 by researchers at the University of Miami, School of Medicine. I’ve said all this to imply that salt may have some influence on the umami taste as well. Salt extracts certain proteins from Muscle fibers and glutamate is prevalent in all protein. Does the possibility exist the salt might also cleave or contribute in some other way to

freeing glutamate from protein molecules to further add to the enhancement of our food’s flavor? I did not have time to check for any research that might have already been done in this area, but perhaps I have just defined a PhD dissertation for someone.

History - Functionality I have already discussed a couple of items that salt does with respect to its preservation qualities. Although still important, the prevalence of refrigeration in our society has greatly reduced our dependence on them as functions of necessity. Today, cured and smoked items are considered delicacies or niche products rather than requirements for survival. We do utilize salt to form meat matrixes in the production of formed products. As we produce whole muscle filets of specific weight for various businesses meat trimmings are generated. This trim is perfectly good meat and is utilized in a number of ways, one of which is what we refer to as formed products. Most of you will recognize this type of product as nuggets or patties. Salt plays an important part in forming the matrix that holds these pieces of meat together. When blended with meat, salt extracts actin and myosin, two muscle proteins, from muscle fibers. A matrix is then formed of salt, water, protein and fat bound together by electrostatic charges within their molecules. As the matrix is generated, it surrounds the larger pieces of meat and holds them together. That mass is then put into a form to provide a recognizable shape (Chicken nugget, filet shaped patty, sausage links, patties, etc.) for commercial sale. Then, when the product is fully cooked, the matrix becomes firm and the patty or nugget takes on more or less the bite characteristics of a whole muscle product (depending on the quality and success of the matrix formed).

II. Salt Alternatives That Are Available

Flavor Many products have been tried in an effort to provide the flavor characteristics of salt without the sodium content. Potassium Chloride – this compound has had some success, but does have an objectionable bitter note when substituted in quantities greater than 10 – 15% of the total salt content. Sea Salt – This is considered an upscale substitute and it does have good flavoring attributes. These products do contain up to 30% less sodium, but also contain other elements and compounds that may have other effects on products. Also, the cost of these products is more than twice that of standard salt. Herb and spice mixtures (Mrs. Dash): We have tried some of these products, but to date have not commercialized a product utilizing this type of substitute. Lemon / Citric acid – We have utilized citric acid in the past to substitute for a portion of the salt load. It works well when pH is not a factor.

Bold Seasonings & Flavors – Chilis, hot peppers, garlic, oregano, etc., need I say more? As we produce more Asian and Latin flavored products, salt is less important to the flavor system. Glutamate and Nucleotides – Glutamate is great, but has a bad rap. Very little is used anymore. Nucleotides (inosinate and guanylate) are guilty by association with glutamate and there has been no call for their use.

Functionality In our business, one of our major concerns is water binding to maintain yield. Salt does play a small role in this activity, but there are good substitutes for this in starches, gums and carrageenans which have bland flavors, superior water binding capacity and provide and aid in the development of good texture. I’ve already spoken about matrix development to produce formed products. To my knowledge there are no good substitutes for salt in this area.

III. Pilgrim’s efforts to reduce Sodium I do want to say a few things about some Pilgrim’s products. All our chill pack product, that is the fresh tray packed, raw, bone-in or boneless, skinless product that you see in your grocer’s refrigerated display case does meet all requirements of the American Heart Association. Additionally, we have developed and are marketing a line we have called Eat Well Stay Healthy. This is a line of further processed products that also meet all American Heart Association standards. Currently, there are 7 items in this line with several more in development.

Observations to spark debate

• Sales and profitability are required to survive in our capitalistic system. We can make products all day long that meet all “healthy” requirements, but if they do not sell and we cannot profit from that sale we are not in business. Certainly our goal is to produce the very best, healthiest products possible at a reasonable price, but how far should we be required to go through regulation, etc. to supply “healthy” product? One great example is CN product for our school meals programs. There are many factors at play in this category, but when you look at the waste cans at a school cafeteria you will find a lot of uneaten, healthy food - generally because it is unpalatable.

• Consumers crave “decadent” flavors and products Quite simply, people want to be Wowed! when they eat away from home. They want flavors and experiences they cannot duplicate at home and they are generally not interested in the healthiness of a product when they splurge on a meal out. How do we change or at least mediate this behavior?

• What consumers say they want is not necessarily what they will spend their dollars to purchase.

How many of you remember a small chain that started in Atlanta, Georgia back in the mid-80s called D’Lites? This was back during the initial “all fat is bad” period. They opened a couple of stores in Atlanta – I think in the Buckhead area – and did well. They opened another in Brentwood, Tennessee on the south eastern side of Nashville and continued to do pretty well. Then they started throwing stores up left and right. Within a year, they were bankrupt. When they took as much fat out of their products as possible there was nothing to carry the flavor, the texture of their meat was mealy and dry, their prices were higher than competitors because protein costs more and the average person on the street didn’t want to pay for it. Yet, all the polls during that era indicated that everyone wanted leaner offerings and they would be willing to pay for it. How do we do better research to assess the consumers true wants and needs?

• Currently, only 1 – 2% of our project requests are for low sodium products I also know that we are on the front end of this reduced sodium push. But, I also know that as more information becomes available and the media publishes more information about some of the potential health implications of excessive sodium in the diet, that project load will increase.

I hope that as we move forward we do so in a measured, scientific way that will truly improve the health and well being of our fellow human beings. I hope that we can use the media to educate, not the government to legislate our way to reasonable salt levels in our food.