Tekcapital PLC (LON:TEK), an international provider of technology and intellectual property services, has acquired a patent for a potential replacement for salt.
The technology has the potential to enable the commercialisation of a one-for-one replacement for regular salt in a variety of applications including table top salt and the coating of dry snacks such as crisps.
Salt substitutes already exist, but Tekcapital has got its hands on a technology that eschews these and which therefore will not impart the bitter taste of most low-sodium salt products.
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The newly acquired technology delivers an improved dissolution providing equally salty taste as a table-top salt with lower salt concentrations, Tekcapital said.
The intended result of a commercialised version of this technology would be a sodium reduction of up to 50% depending on the food it is applied to.
While sugar seems to have recently supplanted fat as the food element health bodies are most concerned about, an excess of sodium in foodstuffs has always been a health concerns, and food companies around the world are striving to reduce the sodium content of their products without sacrificing taste.
Tekcapital has acquired this patent in order to seek, with industry partners, to commercialise the technology. Over the next few weeks Tekcapital will be conducting a taste test of this new product for a leading global food company.