130735Seaweed as a salt replacer in ready mealsClosedFeasibility StudiesInnovate UKSeaweed of human food quality is an underutilised and sustainable food that can be used as an ingredient to enhance nutrition, increase satiety, and replace salt for flavour and functionality. This latter benefit of salt replacement is particularly important as reducing salt in the diet is a key health issue recognised by the World Health Organisation, the European Food Safety Agency and the Food Standards Agency (FSA). The FSA salt reduction targets aim to reduce the average UK salt intake to 6g per day (approx. 2.4g of sodium). Seagreens® human food quality seaweedTM, is a commercially available, organic and sustainably harvested seaweed using proprietary methods (Patent Pending). It is a dried, milled product which has a mineral flavour, with all the minerals being present , including sodium at around 3%. Seagreens® for salt replacement was highlighted in 2011 by Research Councils UK as a ‘Big Idea for the Future’ and Seagreens® is already used in a wide variety of products. Processed foods contribute around 75% of salt in the diet, and the ready meal sector has a forecast value of £3.1 billion by 2015 in the UK. As such, Seagreens® is being applied to reduce salt levels within ready meals, maintaining acceptable flavour, significantly reducing sodium levels and providing numerous other benefits. The research is led by Gee Lawson Limited, the global distributor of Seagreens®, with recipe development and sensory testing being undertaken by Teesside University.