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Posted on: October 7, 2010

Reducing the High Sodium Content of Condiments

Don’t exile ketchup. There are easier, tastier ways to reduce salt intake

By Bev Bennett
CTW Features

For those suffering from high blood pressure and are at risk for heart disease, stroke or hypertension, a physician either has or likely will advise cutting back on sodium intake. Too much sodium may adversely affect blood pressure, which often increases with age.

The first step is probably to hide the salt.

Unfortunately, many people compensate by slathering tomato ketchup and other savory condiments on foods. Unfortunately, that may not make a significant difference in sodium reduction efforts.

“Usually salt from the salt shaker doesn’t add up to that much,” says Ruth Frechman, registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

“It’s the processed food that adds excess sodium to the diet,” says Frechman, Burbank, Calif.

Flavor enhancers such as soy sauce, bottled salsa, tomato ketchup, steak sauce and mustard can pack a sodium wallop.

A tablespoon of soy sauce, for example, has 1,005 milligrams of sodium, which is about two-thirds of the recommended daily limit (Heath experts advise limiting daily sodium intake to 1,500 milligrams, about three-fourths of one teaspoon of salt.). The same-size serving of ketchup or mustard is about 10 percent of sodium allotment.

It is still possible to use condiments to add flavor and variety to foods. By doctoring some favorite brands or making substitutions, condiment enthusiasts can have great tasting food with half the sodium, according to Suki Hertz, registered dietitian, assistant professor, The Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, N.Y.

When you taste a commercially prepared condiment you may not notice the salt, but you will be aware of the distinctive flavor.

“Salt makes the flavors [of all the ingredients] more desirable and acute,” says Barry G. Swanson, Ph.D., food science communicator for the Institute of Food Technologists.

“You can taste the tomato when the salt is there,” says Swanson, regents professor of food science at Washington State University, Pullman, Wash.

Making the switch to no-salt added or reduced-sodium condiments may be challenging, Swanson says.

“The salt is in food because we’ve developed a taste for it,” he says.

You can train yourself to prefer less sodium, but it will take a while, Frechman says.

To reduce the sodium you’re getting from your favorite spreads try the following:

• Mix a little minced chipotle chile into your ketchup.

“It’s spicy so you need less,” Hertz says.

• Stir a little horseradish or Tabasco into your ketchup or mustard. Both pack a lot of flavor, so you don’t use as much, according to Frechman.

• Mix a little honey into mustard.

“I think honey mustard kicks up the heat level so you use less,” Hertz says.

• If you don’t care whether you’re biting into a sweet or sour pickle, choose sweet at half the sodium (160 mg for sweet versus 324 mg for sour; based on a serving of one small pickle).

• Instead of plain soy sauce, opt for the reduced-sodium version. Then mix half soy sauce and half rice vinegar. Add a little grated gingerroot and serve as a dipping sauce, Hertz says.

Bev Bennett, a veteran food writer and editor, is the author of "Dinner for Two: A Cookbook for Couples" and "30-Minute Meals for Dummies"