Human Nutrition Food Technology Salt for Human Nutrition Human nutrition is a major market for salt. Salt serves many purposes . Humans and other animals have an inherent taste for this essential nutrient.
Salt is the world's oldest known food additive .
There are many different types of sodium chloride used for human nutrition, each with its unique contribution in cooking and food processing. Salt brings out natural flavors and makes foods acceptable, protects food safety by retarding the growth of spoilage microorganisms, gives proper texture to processed foods, serves as a control agent to regulate the rate of fermentation in food processing strengthens gluten in bread , provides the color, aroma and appearance consumers expect and is used to create the gel necessary to process meats and sausages. As a result, more heavily processed foods usually contain more sodium and salt. Processed foods are the source of most of dietary salt in western societies. Sodium is an essential nutrient, a mineral that the body cannot manufacture itself.