# Strategies for Reducing Sodium Intake in Bakery Products, a Review
###### Abstract  
Nowadays, the dietary sodium chloride intake is higher than the daily recommended levels, especially due to its prominent presence in food products. This may cause an increase of high blood pressure leading to cardiovascular diseases. Cereal products, and in particular bread, are the main source of salt in human diet. However, salt is a critical ingredient in bread making, and its reduction can have a negative impact on bread quality. This review focuses on physiological role of sodium chloride, its effect on the human body and legislative recommendations on its consumption. Moreover, it presents sodium chloride effects on the bread making from the technological and sensory point of view and presents different options for salt reduction in foods focusing on bakery products. It may be concluded that salt reduction in bread making while maintaining dough rheological properties, yeast fermentation rate, bread quality through its loar volume, color, textural properties, sensory characteristics is difficult to be achieved due to sodium chloride's multifunctional role in the bread-making process. Several strategies have been discussed, focusing on sodium chloride replacement with other type of salts, dry sourdough and flavor enhancers. salt reduction; legislative recommendations; bread making; salt replacement; bread quality +
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that two main factors have contributed to this situation: a behavioral factor in humans salt intake which is not dependent on real needs but on the taste for salt artificially created and which is part of a hedonic behavior that develops since childhood; the second factor is the urbanization that has led to a consumption of industrialized foods in which sodium chloride is used as a flavor additive and preservative. As a result, increased consumption of salt is a relatively recent food habit, which greatly demands the body's ability to adapt [8]. Nowadays, consumers' concerns about excessive sodium intake and its associated effects have increased, and that is why some food companies have changed their product portfolios to reduce sodium intake and to promote healthier diets. An example of this is Nestle, which eliminated almost 7500 tons of sodium from their products starting 2005 [5]. Although consumers are now becoming aware of the negative effects of salt excess consumption on their health, they do not have much information on the salt connections with sodium consumption. In developed countries, consumer awareness of proper nutrition and nutritionally healthy behavior is increasing nowadays especially through education [9; 10]. Unfortunately, in underdeveloped countries the level of education regarding proper nutrition behavior is very low and therefore the population awareness on the negative effect of excessive sodium consumption on health is not very high [10]. From the consumer behavior point of view, sodium chloride increases the acceptability of many foods by intensifying the salty taste and flavor and by trans-modal interactions which increase the taste of other aromatic compounds and decrease or eliminate the bitter taste [3]. It seems that the sensitivity to salt varies in the same individual from one moment of life to another: depending on age, blood pressure level, obesity, pregnancy, various diseases, drugs consumed, and even race etc. risk [11]. Sodium chloride is one of the raw materials in the bakery industry, which is used to make all bakery products except salt-free dietary products. It has an important role on the sensory characteristics of bakery products but also on the technological characteristics of bread making such as dough rheological properties, enzymatic and microbiological dough activity, and bread quality [11]. Nowadays, bread is considered one of the most important sources of salt in the diet, contributing 25% of the amount of salt consumed by the population. Therefore, for a reduction in salt intake it is necessary a reduction of salt in the bakery products.