Strategy to reduce salt consumption in millennial generations using potato stick snack as a food model: a study case in Indonesia

High salt intake indicates high sodium consumption behavior in someone's diet then possibly increases the risk of hypertension. The strategy needed to reduce salt consumption by maintaining palatability and consumer acceptance in low-salt food. Mushroom broth, an umami substance, is used as an alternative to improve the sensory characteristics of lower salt products. In this study, a survey of salt consumption behavior to identify the correlation between salt consumption with knowledge of salt and individual characteristics (n=435) was carried out. Fifty panelists were recruited for sensory tests to determine the threshold of salt concentration using snack as a food model. The hedonic and palatability test using four samples with different levels of salt, each added with 0.5% mushroom broth was carried out to evaluate the consumer acceptance of the mushroom broth in a salt-reduced product. The results showed that there was no correlation (p>0.05) in age, sex, body mass index, and knowledge of salt between salt consumption using the Kendall Tau B test. Reducing salt up to a level of 25% in potato stick snacks was achievable, without the panelists detecting a difference in taste and was still preferred. Using 0.5% mushroom broth as a source of umami flavor was accepted by consumers to replace the role of salt in food so it can act as an alternative strategy to reduce salt consumption.