Valio, Fazer partner on salt reduction

14 Apr 2016

Finnish dairy products company Valio and baking company Fazer have announced that they have together tackled the salt reduction challenge and say they are bringing to stores Finns' favourite products with a wholesome taste but less salt.

Finnish dairy products company Valio and baking company Fazer have announced that they have together tackled the salt reduction challenge and say they are bringing to stores Finns' favourite products with a wholesome taste but less salt. The unique Valio ValSa milk salt innovation makes it possible to reduce salt in food without compromising on taste, the companies said.

People eat too much salt in Finland and all around the world, Valio notes. Salt is the most significant risk factor of high blood pressure, and it is the biggest factor in the world reducing the number of healthy life years. Finns want to reduce their salt consumption, the company believes, and nearly 30% of Finns report that they follow a low-salt diet.

With the help of Valio ValSa, Valio and Fazer say they can manufacture products that contain less salt without having to compromise on taste.

Valio is bringing to stores the Valio Polar 15 cheese and the Valio Oivariini spread, which have been manufactured by replacing part of the table salt with milk salt, and therefore the products have 50% less salt than ordinary margarine spreads and cheeses. Fazer will use milk salt in the manufacturing of the new, lower salt Oululainen Reilu Futissämpylä bread.

“Reducing salt without compromising on taste is an unparalleled innovation, globally,” said Executive Vice President Tuomas Salusjärvi from Valio. “The development of the Valio ValSa milk salt innovation has taken years, but the end result is rewarding. With this innovation, we can be part of the solution in reducing the adverse health effects of salt.”

“Fazer Bakery is renewing the whole bread product group in a big way and wants to bring new solutions to promoting well-being,” said Vice President New Product Development at Fazer Bakery, Heli Anttila.”An important part of this goal is reducing salt in breads, and therefore it was natural for us to start product development collaboration with Valio. We have already renewed our recipes and made changes to raw ingredients, which will help us to reduce the amount of salt in bakery products by approximately 35,000 kg in 2016. Milk salt creates new opportunities for us.”

Milk salt consists of the natural minerals in milk: potassium, iodine, magnesium, calcium, as well as sodium, and contains nearly 80% less sodium than ordinary table salt. Ordinary table salt consists almost completely of sodium chloride. The salty taste in milk salt is derived from the potassium that milk naturally contains, instead of sodium. When part of the ordinary table salt used in the manufacturing of products is replaced with milk salt, the products gain a salty taste with a significantly smaller amount of sodium.