PepsiCo Inc. plans to start producing batches of a secret new ingredient to make its Lay's potato chips healthier, not necessarily taste better, just healthier.
This should be an interesting experiment because salt adds body to foods as well as enhancing flavor, and little is understood about how salt is perceived on the tongue.
The secret ingredient is a designer, powdery salt, where the crystals are shaped and sized in a way that reduces the amount of sodium (25%) when consumers eat the chips.
The new salt could also reduce sodium levels in seasoned Lay's chips like Sour Cream & Onion, PepsiCo said, and it could be used in other products like Cheetos and Quaker bars.
At an investor conference the company said it is committed to cutting its products' average sodium per serving by 25% by 2015 and saturated fat and added sugar by 15% and 25%, sometime this decade.
Pressure is growing on U.S. food companies to act, because most of the salt Americans consume is in processed foods.
Michelle Obama is pressing food companies to cut fat, salt and sugar in their product, and New York City, as well as some health organizations,want restaurants and makers of packaged foods to cut salt 25% within the next five years.
They also want all Last Supper pictures burned, just kidding; that will come later.
