--- Updates from comments from chairman and share price ---
Technology and intellectual property services provider Tekcapital PLC (LON:TEK) has snapped up a patent for technology that can reduce salt consumption.
Tekcapital has acquired a US patent for a production technique that reduces the amount of salt in food and avoids the need for sodium salt substitutes like calcium, potassium or magnesium salts.
The patent could enable the company to commercialise a replacement for table-top salt and salt in crisps, popcorn, cereals and spice mixes.
It should also help food companies to meet US guidelines aimed at cutting sodium consumption by more than 30% in the next decade to reduce the risk of heart disease.
Tekcapital's executive chairman Clifford Gross said: "We think this is a potential winner for the consumer."
Tekcapital acquired the rights to the technology from two experts who had developed it but lacked the means to commercialise it.
It involves the production of nano-particle sodium salt which dissolves faster on the tongue than conventional salt crystals, speeding up the taste sensation and reducing the amount of salt needed to achieve it.
It also avoids the need for substitutes that can give a bitter taste typical of many low-sodium salt products.
Tekcapital said a commercialised version of the technology could reduce sodium by up to half depending on the food it is used in.
Mars Food plans to reduce sodium in its products by 20% in the next five years and Nestlé SA voiced its support for the US government's sodium reduction efforts.
Tekcapital plans to team up with partners to commercialise the technology and will conduct a taste test for a major food company in the next few weeks.
Gross said: "This should bode well for Tekcapital, the inventors of the technology and the consumer."
Shares in Tekcapital rose 0.5p, or 1.1%, to 45.5p.