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salt association |
| about salt | ||||
| salt - the facts Salt is an essential component of our lives. As a nutrient, it performs vital functions within our bodies that keep us healthy. It also plays a key role in keeping our food safe to eat. A balanced diet is vital for a healthy body and mind. By eating a variety of different foods, we are most likely to take in all the essential nutrients. It is the role of salt – or sodium chloride – to help our body's cells to absorb those nutrients. But salt is also found in many other parts of our life – from the grit that keeps us safe on icy roads, to the essential ingredient in our water softeners. In our body When we exercise, when we’re hot, and when we’re going through physiological changes, such as pregnancy or growing old, its role becomes even more fundamental. Most crucially, it maintains the balance of our fluids, which carry oxygen and nutrients around our bodies The two elements of salt – sodium and chloride – each have a number of jobs to do in our bodies. Sodium:
Chloride is key for:
The body is able to adjust to the amount of salt that we consume, such as through making us thirsty when it needs extra water to dilute the salt. A healthy body processes just the amount of salt it needs and the kidneys dispose of any excess. In our food For thousands of years, salt has been used to preserve food such as meat and dairy products. Even with the development of refrigeration, salt remains an important aid to food hygiene. Its role as a seasoning is also well known, and you will often see celebrity chefs adding salt to their dishes with a flourish. You might be less familiar with its myriad of other functions. Imagine sticky bread with large gassy holes. Watery and bitter soft cheeses. Dry, tough meats. Without sufficient salt, this would be a reality. In processed meats, salt acts as a binder, controls the colour and improves the tenderness. In bread, it strengthens gluten in the dough, providing uniform grain, texture and strength, allowing the dough to expand without tearing. It develops rind hardness and even consistency in cheese. The Salt Association is concerned that salt is often unfairly given a bad press, and that the opinions of respected scientists – if they differ from the official line – are often disregarded. The association supports the Government’s drive to improve people’s health and lifestyles by providing nutritional advice. The industry is a responsible partner in the food chain and believes consumers should have clear information to enable them to make healthy choices. Poor diet, obesity, stress and excess alcohol are all factors that lead to high blood pressure and heart disease. We can help ourselves by exercising and by ensuring that our diet includes plenty of fruit, vegetables and low-fat dairy products. More contentious is the debate on the value of reducing salt consumption. Increasingly, experts world-wide are questioning suggested links between salt and high blood pressure. There is also growing evidence that some groups – notably the elderly, pregnant women and those who exercise – may actually be at risk from responding to blanket advice to reduce salt intake. In our lives Every winter, between one and two million tonnes of rock salt is spread on the roads of Britain. It comes from mines of ancient underground salt deposits which, in the UK, are found in Cleveland, County Antrim and below the Cheshire town of Winsford. The UK’s salt mines have some 140 miles of tunnels – that’s almost as long as the M5 motorway! Very pure salt is also commonly used to soften water. Water companies treat water to ensure it is safe for human use, but it is usually impractical and uneconomic to remove hardness. Many businesses use water directly from underground wells or bore holes. Both industrial and domestic water can be softened economically, using an ion-exchange process. The cause of hardness is the presence of calcium and magnesium ions. If those ions are removed, the hardness disappears. In ion-exchange, troublesome ions are exchanged for trouble-free ones. The benefits of water softeners range from environmental (as less energy is used by your heaters) to detergent consumption and the life of your fabric.
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