Drivers of liking for reduced sodium potato chips and puffed rice

Reducing the amount of sodium in food products is necessary in decreasing the prevalence of hypertension, heart attack, and stroke. There is a lack of information on sodium reduction in potato chips and puffed rice, which comprise a large percentage of salty snack sales, and the use of flavor enhancers to maintain consumer acceptability of these products. The objective of this study was to identify drivers of liking for potato chip and puffed rice samples seasoned with differing sodium and flavor enhancer concentrations using sensory descriptive analysis and acceptance data. Eleven trained panelists evaluated the snacks and found eight significantly different attributes for potato chips and seven significantly different attributes for puffed rice. To better understand how these differences in samples play a role in sample liking, the descriptive analysis data were correlated with the data from a consumer test through preference mapping. For potato chips, consumers liked samples characterized by meaty aftertaste, aroma, aroma-by-mouth, and umami aftertaste. Consumers disliked samples with a strong raw potato aroma. For puffed rice, consumers liked samples with attributes of crunchy texture, garlic aftertaste, and savory aftertaste and disliked bitter aftertaste and chili powder aroma-by-mouth. These findings imply acceptance of sodium-reduced potato chips and puffed rice is possible by focusing on these identified drivers of liking. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Our findings suggest the addition of flavor enhancers maintains or improves the palatability of reduced sodium products with eight attributes influencing liking of potato chips and seven attributes influencing liking of puffed rice. Understanding the sensory attributes that impact the acceptance of reduced sodium products will allow for these attributes to be the focus during product development, which may result in increased sales of reduced sodium snacks, thus decreasing sodium consumption from snack products.