The impact of consuming too much salt on our health is well known and the food industry has been working hard to reduce levels over the last 10 years or so. There is much more however that needs to be done and government action has been to set targets for significant reductions in most major food sectors. For example in the UK, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has set new targets for 2012 and together with the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has commissioned research with Leatherhead on salt reduction technologies. The report is due to be published in July 2012.The key issue for the food industry is to reduce salt levels whilst maintaining brand equity. There have been two main approaches of which the first is to make gradual reductions in the perception of saltiness in order to ‘re-tune’ palates to lower levels of salt. This so-called ‘stealth’ approach has been used successfully by many companies. The second approach is to maintain the perception of saltiness with lower levels of salt through the use of alternative ingredients or technological solutions.Leatherhead’s Innovations in Salt Reduction training course will describe the various techniques for salt reduction and how this can be achieved whilst maintaining brand equity. It will therefore provide essential tools for the product developers that are charged with the reformulations, and the marketers who communicate these changes to consumers. From this course you willUnderstand the basics approaches to salt reduction in foodsAppreciate the product quality and microbiological criteria that have to be metLearn about the range of salt replacement ingredients that are availableSee how technology approaches are being developed to provide alternatives to salt replacement ingredientsHear about the trends and a range of case studies relating to salt reduction