McDonald's has just announced that they will reduce the amount of salt on their french fries by 50% at stores across the Atlantic in the face of growing concerns about salt consumption from the public. The change will first take effect in Ireland and, since the salt content of fries in the UK as a whole has already been reduced by 24%, it would not take too much to spread the change to the whole area. The fast food chain also plans to eliminate trans fats over the next several weeks.

Apparently, these initiatives are part of a list of "10 commitments" to healthy eating, the environment and other PR-friendly causes that McDonald's is planning to follow to increase consumer confidence in the brand. It must be working, since they have reported an 8.8% increase in European sales in the last month alone. Or, of course, people are just addicted to the burgers.

Generally speaking, salt by any other name is still salt, and whether you used large flake sea salt or plain table salt, your food will still turn out well. This is especially true of savory foods. In things like sauces and soups, all kinds of salt will dissolve due to the heat of the dish and produce equally flavorful results. When adding a spice rub to meat or simply adding a sprinkle to food already on your plate, the salt will not only add flavor, but a small amount of texture and a bit of crunch. You might find that while the saltiness is the same, you prefer to use larger, flaked salt for that extra edge. Salads, too, are usually enhanced by adding a bit of salt and using a coarser salt will really enhance the veggies in your bowl.

A representative for the Food Products Association asked the American Medical association why they were singling out salt as a health risk to the American public. Predictably, they cited evidence that salt may cause an increased risk of elevated blood pressure and heart disease. But is an increased risk enough to label salt as a danger?

There is no denying that there is a lot of salt in the foods we eat. The recommended daily amount of salt is about 2,400 mg, which is roughly a teaspoonful. Many people consume double that in a day. But the salt that we add to our homemade chicken dinners is not the problem; the greatest source of sodium in our diets is processed food. For example, a Big Mac contains over 1000mg of salt - half the recommended allowance. Unfortunately, because this salt isn't readily apparent to the eater, people don't know its there - and if they are told by their doctor to watch their salt intake, or take to heart the advice from the AMA, they end up watching the wrong places.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a flavor enhancer that has been used in a wide variety of food products over the years. It is a sodium salt of glutamic acid, an amino acid. Resembling salt or sugar in appearance when it is isolated from a food, MSG does not have a distinctly recognizable taste. It triggers the taste buds newly classified as being sensitive to "umami", a savory taste and loanword borrowed from Japanese.

Chefs, even before giving a name to umami, have been using ingredients with a naturally high glutamate content to enhance the flavor of dishes. It is found in large quantities in ingredients such as tomatoes, mushrooms, corn, parmesan cheese and soy sauce, in addition to occuring in meats, like beef and chicken. It is the perception of MSG as a food additive - rather than as a naturally occurring flavoring - that has given it a bad name.