BS: Support for salt

Subject: BS: Support for salt
From: Kampervan
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 02:07 AM

Food manufacturers in the U.K. are under constant pressure to reduce the levels of salt in our food.
This is fine up to a point, but now it's reaching the stage where the very nature of some foods such as bacon, cheese and sausages is under threat.

Advice is one thing, we all need to know the facts, but I don't want anyone telling me what I can and can't eat. It's the nanny state gone mad.

Is there a campaign anywhere to stop these food fascists telling us what we can and can't buy? If so I join it.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: GUEST,999
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 02:37 AM

You think you got problems. I'm in Canada. Remember the dairy product called cream? The GD dairy industry now has added gums, seaweed and some other shit to it and it no longer tastes like cream, but it lasts longer on the shelves and is thicker. BUT, it GD doesn't taste like cream. Other than the pleasure of seeing Jeri when she can get up here, she is also kind enough to bring some cereal cream with her. The ingredient list is as follows: dairy cream. The only milk product that hasn't been tampered with is milk. (Even that's put through an ultraviolet treatment thus creating vitamin D3.)

Some products have too much salt added. Best tomato juice I've had in years was one that was salt free. However, generally I'm in agreement with you, K. To quote from an old Herman cartoon, just what IS new, improved lettuce?

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: Wolfhound person
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 04:54 AM

Anyone else had hyponatraemia?

(that's not enough salt!)

In serious cases it can bring on hallucinations and all sorts. If one doesn't eat processed food, eats home-made bread and puts no salt in cooking it's quite easy to get a mild dose, particularly after an illness.
I got it after swine flu - I know my body's reactions fairly well and find following my instincts is best, so on this occasion I got a craving for salted crisps and had to eat two packets a day for a week before I felt normal.

Ignore the experts, ignore fads. Listen to your body - it knows best.

Paws

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 06:31 AM

I *love* salt... :0)

I can't bear to eat food with it..and once I used to work for a Cardiologist who said there was no evidence to actually prove that salt affected your BP one way or t'other...and he was the Head of Cardiology at St. Bartholomew's Hospital...who always put salt on his daily sandwich, which was **always** followed by a Mars Bar.   :0)

Jamie Oliver now has salt from various parts of the world in his range of condiments...

Strangely, years back, folks ate butter, cheese, eggs, fat and salt, and were healthier than most folks these days, probably because they moved their bodies all the time, worked hard, and walked everywhere..

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: David C. Carter
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 07:18 AM

We got a Super Market chain here,it's called"Lidle".
You need to wear sun glasses if you're feeling weird and have an attack of"I must go in here"all of a sudden!I had one once,and ventured in, nearly blinded me!All the colors,Jeez,the adds everywhere,everything flashing!
They were selling 5 normal size pizzas,under plastic wrap,for 2 Euros!
There's more salt in those than in the Dead Sea!Not to mention the sandwiches(not in the Dead Sea)of course.You're better off eating the plastic they come in!
This is supposed the be the country of "Haute cuisine".

David

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 07:27 AM

Hyponatraemia (lack of salt in the tissues) is very dangerous. The brain can swell as water leaches into it by osmosis. This condition is also exacerbated by drinking far too much water. There is actually no hard evidence to prove that a reasonable amount of salt is harmful. Also, the Great Cholesterol Debate has still not provided enough scientific evidence to convince me. (The drug companies who flog statins want us to be terrified of dairy fat) Wolfhound Person, I totally agree with you, just listen to your body and be prompted by it.
By the way, aren't biscuits dire now, with 'reduced fat'. They crumble like dust and taste of cardboard!

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: melodeonboy
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 09:09 AM

"Food manufacturers in the U.K. are under constant pressure to reduce the levels of salt in our food."

Surely that's a huge advantage for those of us who are able to appreciate the taste of food with little or no salt added, and a minor inconvenience to those who like huge amounts of salt on their food - all they have to do is reach for the salt cellar!

This way, everybody's happy - you can have as much or as little salt as you like! Hardly "food fascism"!

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: Rapparee
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 09:31 AM

Not really. Salt is very important to a number of things, especially bakes ones. You can't go around putting salt (or bacon grease) on a cookie (biscuit). Well, you can, but you know what I mean I think.

How, for example, do you cook a decent Yorkshire pudding without some sort of grease/fat? Or anything using baking soda? The element sodium, in some form, is in so many, many things.

We DO overuse it, and it IS cheaper than actually flavoring something as it should be. But like everything else, it has its place.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: melodeonboy
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 10:42 AM

"We DO overuse it, and it IS cheaper than actually flavoring something as it should be. But like everything else, it has its place."

Agreed.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: Ed T
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 10:58 AM

I like salt, and have no health issues with or without. I suspect there are as many who have some type of medical sensitives to salt, as are those who require it for their health.

Like with MSG, I suspect the main purpose of adding salt is to enhance flavour.

I suspect it is easier for people to add as much salt as they prefer to food when they are eating, than trying to remove salt from a product that already has ample amounts of it added already (for those who do not prefer it, for one reason or another)?

A question: Are there not also pro salt fascists, that balance out the anti salt fascists?

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: olddude
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 11:11 AM

Salt is one of my basic food groups, like coffee ... nobody better mess with mine ... I will throw something at them ..

bring on the salty pretzels

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 12:56 PM

Sometime around the early '90s, there was a lot of publicity about an "illness" that at the time was called "yuppie flu." A number of medical tests, apparently valid (to my rather critical standards) verified that the majority of cases benefited from an increase in salt intake above the levels popular among "yuppie fad diets" of the era. A number of "more modern" names are now applied to what appears to be the same "illness" since, of course, each specialist practicioner needs a unique "specialty" to attract patients who require "expensive" treatments - if treating common "boils on the butt" doesn't appeal to the doc (and isn't profitable enough).

While many commercial foods do contain excessive amounts of salt when consumed in "popular amounts," there is no question among legitimate medical researchers that most people are little affected by reasonable intake, and that some is necessary for good health; but the relatively small percentage whose blood pressure is increased by "fast food junkie" amounts makes it a marketable claim that everybody must eliminate it entirely.

(Note that lots of people with high blood pressure are not helped by drastic reductions in salt, even when eliminating excessive amounts may be of some help. Each person must determine whether it's a significant factor for them at their current levels of consumption, and not all medical practicioners seem to recognize the extent to which people vary.)

Among the more bizarre marketing claims seen recently: "Fat Free Half and Half" (presumedly intended as a "coffee creamer."(?)) It's displayed with the dairy products but appears to contain no contents of animal origin(?) Although it doesn't appear to have a "non-dairy" label, one must presume that "Half" is petroleum byproducts and that "and Half" is chemical additives, which are of course quite healthy and nutritious.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: GUEST,999
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 12:57 PM

It ain't about the salt you add, it's about the salt that's already IN the food.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 01:07 PM

Actually, I don't like much salt in food, I hardly ever use any in the limited amount of cooking I do, and when I eat processed stuff or takeaways I find the amount of salt used leaves me very thirsty. But I don't drink much water either and really, frankly, rather dislike cream - although there is something about full cream milk on one's cereal!

But fats, on the other hand - lean cuts of meat hardly ever have the flavour of ones with enough fat in. Lean legs of pork are largely flavourless and the best cut on the pig is belly pork!

OTOH, if the state is funding a health service (as, IMHO and civilised state should) then the state has an interest a financial interest, in improving population health. This, for example legitimates the banning of smoking in many places and making the wearing of crash helmets compulsory, but I draw the line well before compulsory calisthenics and jogging each morning!

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 03:03 PM

I, for one, am glad to see more foods offered which are truly lower in salt content as it does have a fairly serious effect on my kidneys. We make most of everything I eat now, so that we can control the amount of salt, which is really easy...anyone can do it.:-) There are only two breakfast cereals I know of which do not have a ton of salt and sugar in them - no one really needs as much as they put it. The same with canned/tinned soups...over here the supposedly "low sodium" soup still has almost 1000mg per can. Add that to any other processed foods and you can easily reach levels of 4,000mg and more per day. And, that doesn't even get into fast food, though some of them at least NOW let you order fries with no salt, so that you control how much you put on them. There's tons of salts in condiments, too. The list is endless and a lot of it is unnecessarily high amounts.

Salt it how you like it, but let the rest of us who must salt it as little as we like it, do so and let it be. :-)

kat1000mg per day or less (Does this mean I can't be an Old Salt, for Talk Like A Pirate day?)

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: frogprince
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 04:16 PM

A couple of years back, Kentucky Fried Chicken offered a new "healthy" alternative version. I don't remember if it was designated "grilled", but if so it was before they made "grilled" a permanent choice on the menu. The...interesting...thing was that the stuff came with a disclaimer stating that a serving contained a full days adult allowance of sodium. The stuff was like eating anchovies. It would have been much better with a fraction as much salt. The best thing about it was that it was discontinued soon.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: Bettynh
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 04:45 PM

If you crave salt, feel depressed/overly tired, have muscle cramps or abdominal pain, low blood pressure, lose weight, and look like you've been lying in the sun all summer (nice tan!), you might have or be developing Addison's disease. My dad had this, but it was only recognized weeks after major abdominal surgery. He spent 2 extra days in ICU because they couldn't get his BP up (they never did, just decided it was "normal for him"). The symptoms can occur after withdrawal from steroids, too. It's rare, and doctors don't even think of it when examining patients (Dad's doc looked like a puppy with a new toy when he figured it out - he was sooo excited). My father was treated with two (very inexpensive) types of steroids a day and a reminder to use lots of salt in his diet.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: Leadfingers
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 08:39 PM

When I was wandering round the world at Government Expense (RAF Service) we were issued with Salt Tablets in the Middle East to replace the salt we lost through sweat !!

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 08:59 PM

Salt tablets were used as a quick way to replace electrolytes lost due to perspiration. The problem with them is that NaCl is not the only electrolyte lost. Salt tablets do nothing to replace the other electrolytes, so it would still be possible to experience problems due to, say, loss of potassium. Salt tablets have been supplanted by electrolyte replacement tablets which attempt to replace the full spectrum of body electrolytes, not just the sodium.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 09:22 PM

Had 3 year old cheddar in a sandwich for lunch.

I remember salt tablets in a hospital mess hall, Texas, WW2. I don't think they were issued in field rations until near the end of the war.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 09:56 PM

Salt tablets were used fairly early in US participation in the war, at least in the aircraft plants here ca. 1942 or before. ("Early" may have a somewhat different meaning for those where things were happening before the US joined in.)

Salt tablets seem to have been pretty much replaced by "sports drinks," except in places where commercialism hasn't penetrated as well as here, although there's pretty good documentation of differences in the balance of electrolytes that need replacing for "athletic activities" and what's best for more "normal activies" in hot weather. (Metabolic waates from extreme exertion induce somewhat different losses than milder activity.)

The old reliable (and cheaper) "Tang"® probably would be better for most people than the relatively overpriced "sports concoctions," since it was created based on the specific needs of persons performing less extreme - albeit exotic - tasks.

I have my reservations about accepting the advice of a football coach (the claimed creators of several of the "drinks") over that of my medical sources, although Doc Bannister did some excellent research that I attempted to apply some when I had pretensions of being "athletic."

John

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: Rapparee
Date: 19 Sep 11 - 10:53 PM

The Four Basic Food Groups:

Salt
Sugar
Grease
Alcohol

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 20 Sep 11 - 12:13 AM

Oh! I thought the four food groups were
Canned
Frozen
Microwave
Take-Out

My dad would pour salt on everything BEFORE tasting it. I can still hear my mom saying, "But I already put salt in it." I rarely add salt to anything while I am cooking or when I sit down to eat. However, I do use condiments which contain salt. I have had high blood pressure which I controlled with meds until I lost weight and exercised regularly. Salt consumption seems to have nothing to do with my BP.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 20 Sep 11 - 03:13 AM

Oh, a vital food group is omitted. BCB. Brown Crunchy Bits.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 20 Sep 11 - 07:23 AM

Have just come back from a medical overall general check-up. Feel very pleased, my blood pressure is normal, my cholesterol level (for those who believe in it, which I don't!) quite reasonable, iron content in the blood normal, overall twelve blood-checks done last week have all come back normal. And as I keep harping on, I eat butter, cream, cheese, full-fat milk, salt in food that needs it, etc etc. But I do cook everything from scratch, no ready-made meals or microwaved stuff. Plenty of home-grown fruit & veg., pure air here in the countryside, and I've never smoked and don't drink. If I've lived this long like this, I think it's proof that salt and dairy fats aren't necessarily bad for you. I feel very thankful for my continuing good health, and not, I hope, smug. There are many folk who are not so lucky, and I do feel for them.
PS, I am a bit too fat, but my husband likes me like that!!

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 20 Sep 11 - 08:28 AM

Whisky
Vodka
Rum
Gin
Ain't that the main 4?


Seriously though, don't lose sight of the fact that salt is also a preservative, which is why it's in bacon and ham. Not forgetting lovely Bacalhau

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: GUEST,999
Date: 20 Sep 11 - 04:58 PM

"Plenty of home-grown fruit & veg.,"

Eliza: thank you, thank you, thank you. I totally, absolutely, completely and entirely detest the 'word' veggies. It is refreshing to read the writing of someone who knows the word is vegetables. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The doctor I saw a few weeks back told me it's not the salt you add, it's the salt that's already in the food.

I really enjoy tomato juice or V8. However, I stopped using as much salt as I had previously and now they both taste like salt with some juice added to them. Yuk!

It's like looking for hens' teeth to locate juices with no salt. I don't think of it as food fascism, but it peeves me when companies do stupid stuff. Example: Libby's made a really good pork and beans. Heinz bought Libby's and Heinz decided to continue with their recipe--which imo is vastly inferior--and Libby's beans are gone now. A pox on Mr Heinz. I doubt my personal boycott is felt in Heinz's corporate bottom line, but I am tired of companies that do that sort of thing.

That's my rant for the day. Thank you.

Eliza, thank you.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: gnu
Date: 20 Sep 11 - 05:20 PM

9.... V8 V-Plus. Low sodium and twice the fibre. Good stuff. What about Graves beans made just miles from you. That's what I buy when I don't make my own.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: GUEST,999
Date: 20 Sep 11 - 05:42 PM

Never seen them on the shelf. I'll check at the local IGA and get back to you. Thanks for the heads-up, Gnu.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: GUEST,999
Date: 20 Sep 11 - 07:18 PM

Nope, none there.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: Jeri
Date: 20 Sep 11 - 07:28 PM

I'll check around here.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Sep 11 - 09:26 PM

A few of us old salty dogs around here.

I'll have to look at the tomato juice in the stores here. Canada demands labels showing amounts of salt, etc.

I remember Libbys pork and beans. As I remember, they also had a fair amount of sugar (molasses). And the pork was a small slab of fat.
Heinz has been producing it for a long time. Now they have at least 6 varieties on the grocers' shelves.
Heinz original with pork and molasses:
Per 1/2 cup
Calories 170
Fat 1% (2% of daily value)
Chloresterol 0%
Sodium 420 mg (18% of daily value)
Carbohydrate 31 gm (10% of daily value)
Fibre 7 gm (28% of daily value)
Sugar 11 gm (daily value not specified)
Protein 8 gm
Calcium -- (10% of daily value)
Iron -- (20% of daily value)

We always start with pure beans (several pre-cooked organic canned varieties available) or dried beans and build from there.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 21 Sep 11 - 01:00 PM

Did we evolve to eat 310 grams of carbohydrate a day in pretty much sedentary conditions? This is why we are a nation of diabetics..we did not evolve to process that many refined, unrefined and perhaps not refined but finely ground (or is that ocnsidered refined?) carbohydrates, perhaps unless we are lumberjacks in the North Woods..but I think Babe the Blue Ox did not even eat that many. mg

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: Musket
Date: 21 Sep 11 - 01:55 PM

I have no problem in government not using its knowledge to inform people of health facts. Carry on troughing.

I also have no problem in refusing NHS care when people don't share the responsibility. Carry on troughing.

Just make sure you have enough dosh to look after your own healthcare.

The NHS costs over £100Billion a year. If people look after themselves more, that can either be reduced or spent better. Over 30% of that budget is diet, alcohol and nicotine related.

For the first time in recorded history, today's school generation will have a lower life expectancy than their parents in The UK. Keep reading that sentence and see if you are as shocked as I am.

I am a fascist in that sense and extremely happy with my stance. By all means, stick two fingers at me and "my type." Keep piling the salt on. Perhaps the increased NHS spend will be offset by the shortened pension payments made to you.

I like salt. A bit too much in fact. Especially on potatoes. I can use a fair amount though by avoiding too much processed food. I am lucky enough to have a decent garden and a keen gardening wife so between us, we grow our own for most things, leaving enough in the diet for salt on spuds, lots of bacon etc.

it isn't about nanny state, it's about the shocking inability of many people to look after themselves and be a burden on the rest of us.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 22 Sep 11 - 07:20 AM

But Ian, as I said above, I'm quite old now and in very good health. I don't cost the NHS anything, and haven't musch over the years either. (One broken leg at age 7!) I'm not a burden on 'the rest of you', I'm not diabetic nor do I have heart disease. I'm not 'sticking two fingers up' at anybody (how very rude that would be). I also don't 'trough'. All I'm trying to say is that I resent the State telling me, after all these years of life and experience, what I must and must not eat.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: GUEST,Steamin' Willie
Date: 22 Sep 11 - 08:29 AM

I agree with Ian and not just because we are good mates and both of us get involved in planning healthcare.

I might help both sides here. I have never known the UK government te people what they can or cannot eat. I have However read in the press that they do.

It sells newspapers when you confuse good healthy evidence based advice with nanny state pronouncements.

One interesting debating point here would be around whether it is in the interest of government to have healthy people in order to help NHS budgets or to kill them off to help the pensions and long term care budgets?

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: Kampervan
Date: 22 Sep 11 - 12:18 PM

The Uk government indirectly tell people what they can and can't eat because they put pressure on the food retailers and manufacturers to reduce the salt in food products.

Now this is fine for prepared meals and the like, customers can always add a little more if they wish.
The problem comes when this is applied across the board and it takes in things like salted peanuts, cheese and bacon where you can't add salt to taste.

I just want choice!

Just consider what has happened already :-

From an IFST report

Reductions already achieved include: •
The average amount of salt found in branded pre-packed, sliced bread has been reduced by around one-third.
•
Reductions of about 44% have been achieved in branded breakfast cereals.
•
Reductions of between 16% and 50% have been achieved in some top-selling cakes and biscuits between 2006 and 2007.
•
The snack sector has been particularly active and in 2007 alone there was a 13% reduction in standard crisps, 32% in 'extruded snacks' and 27% in 'pelleted snacks'. In some standard crisp ranges, average reductions in the sodium content of up to 55% have been reported.
•
There have also been reductions in processed cheese products, including a range of soft white cheeses with 50% less salt for the UK market, a 32% reduction in some retail standard cheese slices, and 21% in the equivalent reduced-fat cheese slices.
•
Earlier work led by the Food and Drink Federation (Project Neptune) produced reductions of about 30% in cooking and pasta sauces and 25% in soups by a range of the largest manufacturers.
The UK's major retailers have also undertaken a significant amount of work on salt reduction and made commitments to salt reductions across a wide range of own-brand products. Some have met the 2010 targets ahead of time in most or all of their products, and one retailer is using the original 2010 targets as maximum salt levels for all relevant products.

Where will it end?

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 22 Sep 11 - 12:23 PM

I have to avoid processed foods because of salt. Dining out is sometimes followed by extreme high blood pressure events. One put me in observation for a night. Something like 240 over 112.

Wish there was a range of low salt soup and wish restaurants did not add so much salt to their meals.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Sep 11 - 07:12 PM

Kampervan- interesting. Source?

A good range of low salt soups are marketed in Canada.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: Kampervan
Date: 23 Sep 11 - 01:10 AM

Hi Q

The Statement is one of those on this link

http://www.ifst.org/science_technology_resources/for_food_professionals/information_statements/index/

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 23 Sep 11 - 08:56 AM

I remember when packs of crisps had the little blue twists of paper with the salt you could add if you like. That's the way to do it, for peanuts and suchlike as well. It's a lot easier to add than to subtract when it comes to condiments.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 23 Sep 11 - 01:47 PM

Have just bought a small (luckily!) jar of Sun Pat peanut butter, and it's HORRIBLE. The salt content has obviously been reduced, and would you believe it? it contains CANE SUGAR! I haven't eaten peanut butter for years, but the jar's going in the bin. YUK.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: open mike
Date: 23 Sep 11 - 03:02 PM

maybe birds and squirrels would like it!
We often do winter feeders for birds with a pine cone
spread with peanut butter and rolled in bird seed!

perhaps all is not lost....

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 24 Sep 11 - 07:53 AM

What an excellent idea Mike! It's so sweet, it's a strange flavour, but the birds will certainly like it. Thanks very much!

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 24 Sep 11 - 09:59 AM

I think the sugar content in food is far more dangerous than the salt one..

So, Bruce..you're not going to become a Veggie then? ;0)

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 25 Sep 11 - 04:36 AM

Adding salt is bad news! If you use your brains and eat properly there is no reason to add salt - and tou'll be healthier!
And, the choice of the words "food fascism" ammuses me. Surely it's the food industry that is acting like fascists by taking away choice and imposing salt on the public(and other unhealthy additives).
As was stated by a previous poster, let the public add salt themselves - if they're daft enough to want it!
One thing that really does irritate me is when you see food with a label saying " 50% less salt".
What that means, of course, is that they are not taking 50% salt out but simply putting 50% less salt in!

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: GUEST,livelylass
Date: 25 Sep 11 - 05:32 AM

I'm not concerned about restrictions placed on processed foods - particularly ready meals and such-like - because in the main, the sole reason they need such a lot of added salt, is to make-up for cheap ingredients bulked out with unmentionables that taste of nothing in the first place. Meals made days ago, and left in the chiller, end up tasting bland too - manufacturers admit that this is the reason they have to season such products so heavily.

I would however be concerned at blanket demands made of all food producers, particularly those of traditionally produced food stuffs such as cheese, bacon, ham, smoked or cured fish, pickles and so-on, as such items require plenty of salt both for the preserving process and for   their flavour. I think, like most grown-ups, I'm able to moderate my own intake of such foods - indeed treated correctly, they are luxury items for the weekend.

A bit of smoked salmon and scrambled egg on muffins, with fresh squeezed orange juice for Sunday breakfast can be a delight, or a decent pub Ploughman's Lunch on a sunny afternoon with a good lump of mature cheddar (the kind with salt crystals running through) - and I would simply hate to have such luxuries unavailable to me when I fancy them, but just like Christmas dinner, I wouldn't wish to have such fare everyday of the week.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 25 Sep 11 - 09:19 AM

This "flavour" thing is so silly!
You can't enhance the taste of something by adding salt or herbs, because it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that such additions will clearly disguise the true taste of the original food!
Bite the bullet and re-adjust your taste buds just like a lot of us did when we ditched sugar from our tea and coffee.

Subject: RE: BS: Support for salt
From: GUEST,livelylass
Date: 25 Sep 11 - 09:47 AM

Is that directed at me? I don't wish to or need to bite anymore bullets thanks. I already have a very healthy diet - 90% vegetarian/vegan, 90% wholefood, presently teetotal, no highly processed or ready-made foods, no refined sugary products.

I don't want to or need to ditch the occasional wedge of mature farmhouse cheddar, or slice of oak smoked wild Scottish salmon - nope I really don't. I'm good thanks :)