The flavor and acceptability of six different potassium-enriched (sodium reduced) iodized salts: a single-blind, randomized, crossover design

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a serious public health problem. Potassium-enriched salt is suggested as a tool for lowering blood pressure. However, its flavor and taste acceptability is essential for population-based salt reduction strategy and needs to be well-understood. This trial assessed the flavor and taste acceptability of six different potassium-enriched iodized salts in the general population. METHODS: We conducted this crossover trial from May to June 2016, enrolling 100 normal volunteer subjects aged 11 to 64 years. We compared regular sodium chloride salt (placebo) with six different potassium-enriched (sodium reduced) iodized salt (experiment), including 0 %, 5 %, 10 %, 15 %, 20 %, 25 %, and 30 %. The participants served as their own control and received a placebo and a sequence of the experiments. They tasted the two salts sequentially and stated their preference and acceptance. Each subject received all salts. RESULTS: More than 80 % of participants who either did not distinguish between the two salts even in high potassium-enriched salts or preferred potassium-enriched salt (P < 0.001). The number of participants who preferred the flavor of potassium-enriched salt was greater than the number of subjects who preferred the flavor of regular sodium chloride. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicated that the six different potassium-enriched salts had a public acceptability of at least 80 % among normal subjects from the general population. Although the acceptability of the potassium-enriched salts by a more general population group would require to be confirmed, universal use of this salt may help us achieve the target of 30 % relative reduction in mean population intake of sodium by 2025.