# The sugar and salt is everywhere, it's probably even watching you right now. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 15, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sugar-and-salt-is-everywhere-its-probably-even-watching-you-right-now/641125 "2012-11-15T20:45:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crab007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c0e974/32.png) [@Crab007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crab007)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sugar-and-salt-is-everywhere-its-probably-even-watching-you-right-now/641125/1 "2012-11-15T20:45:15Z")
As I’m walking around my kitchen, wondering why it’s so hard to lose weight, I’ve discovered something; that sugar and salt is in almost every last food thing in my kitchen. The only product that didn’t have some hidden away in it was the olive oil. So the question arises: Why is **salt** and **sugar** in nearly everything there is? With the side question: If you were to cut out all the sugary salty products, what does that actually leave you with? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sugar-and-salt-is-everywhere-its-probably-even-watching-you-right-now/641125/2 "2012-11-15T21:15:25Z")
With salt, it’s easy: because it preserves food, and because without it, everything would be really bland and tasteless. Sugar, especially HFCS, I’m more inclined to agree. But really, it depends on what kinds of foods you’re talking about. You seem to be talking “literally everything,” which isn’t as far from the truth as many may think, but still. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sugar-and-salt-is-everywhere-its-probably-even-watching-you-right-now/641125/3 "2012-11-15T22:09:49Z")
> [@Crab007](#): > > As I’m walking around my kitchen, wondering why it’s so hard to lose weight, I’ve discovered something; that sugar and salt is in almost every last food thing in my kitchen. The only product that didn’t have some hidden away in it was the olive oil. > So the question arises: Why is **salt** and **sugar** in nearly everything there is? > > With the side question: If you were to cut out all the sugary salty products, what does that actually leave you with? The simple answer to why salt and sugar are in everything is to control water activity. > **[Water activity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_activity)** > > In food science, water activity (aw) of a food is the ratio of its vapor pressure to the vapor pressure of water at the same temperature, both taken at equilibrium. Pure water has a water activity of one. Put another way, aw is the equilibrium relative humidity (ERH) expressed as a fraction instead of as a percentage. As temperature increases, aw typically increases, except in some products with crystalline salt or sugar. > Water migrates from areas of high aw to areas of low aw. For example, if h... > [@](#): > > Food product design > > Food designers use water activity to formulate products that are shelf stable. If a product is kept below a certain water activity, then mold growth is inhibited. This results in a longer shelf-life. Controling water activity extends the shelf life of all processed foods. Salt limits water activity, the moisture can still be present but the water is not available for microbes to use to grow, it is bound up by the salt or sugar. This is why you can buy moist, tender things like beef jerky or pepperoni that never seems to go bad. It is also why there is too much salt it your cat’s food, and in everything else you buy that is pre-made and ready to eat. From the canned beans on your shelf to the macaroni in your pasta jar. Bread is another major hidding place for large amounts of salt. Both salt and sugar can be used to control water activity but salt is much cheaper, at about 5 cents a pound including shipping, it is practiacally free. Sugar is much more expensive but will do the same job. Both salt and sugar are used in the food product industry on a massive scale. This is why you must be carefull when buying ‘low sodium’ processed foods because they are likely to be loaded up with sugar instead of salt, and cost more too. Food processors would not be adding extra salt or sugar if it wasn’t needed to meet their needs. Whether this is a good idea or a bad one is another thread, but shelf life is the reason, and water activity is the science behind it. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sugar-and-salt-is-everywhere-its-probably-even-watching-you-right-now/641125/4 "2012-11-15T22:18:28Z")
> [@Crab007](#): > > With the side question: If you were to cut out all the sugary salty products, what does that actually leave you with? Fresh fruits and vegetables, meats and fish. Seeds and grains. Making your food from scratch so you can plan the salt and sugar content. Honest, if you have access to a kitchen, and a modicum of time it will taste _worlds_ better than the processed crap. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sugar-and-salt-is-everywhere-its-probably-even-watching-you-right-now/641125/5 "2012-11-15T23:17:18Z")
Ital - rasta sacred food is cooked without these 2 ingredients, especially salt. I have tried ti replace salt with Bragg’s liquid aminos as much as possible, but it is hard. ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sugar-and-salt-is-everywhere-its-probably-even-watching-you-right-now/641125/6 "2012-11-15T23:27:37Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Salt limits water activity, the moisture can still be present but the water is not available for microbes to use to grow, it is bound up by the salt or sugar. This is why you can buy moist, tender things like beef jerky or pepperoni that never seems to go bad. It is also why there is too much salt it your cat’s food, and in everything else you buy that is pre-made and ready to eat. From the canned beans on your shelf to the macaroni in your pasta jar. Bread is another major hidding place for large amounts of salt. Is this really always true? I thought canned food in particular was preserved because it is sealed and heated to kill off anything that might be in it (not all canned food has added salt or sugar, and even the stuff with a lot of salt isn’t THAT salty or you wouldn’t want to eat it, except perhaps condensed soup). At least salt doesn’t cause you to gain weight and [some studies](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=its-time-to-end-the-war-on-salt) say it isn’t really bad for you, some even go so far as to claim the opposite - less salt = more heart disease, even if blood pressure drops a few points (still probably good to get reduced sodium food, as long as they add potassium and not sugar, since more potassium is something people need). ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sugar-and-salt-is-everywhere-its-probably-even-watching-you-right-now/641125/7 "2012-11-15T23:53:59Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Honest, if you have access to a kitchen, and a modicum of time it will taste _worlds_ better than the processed crap. Well, at least if you put enough salt on it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sugar-and-salt-is-everywhere-its-probably-even-watching-you-right-now/641125/8 "2012-11-16T00:19:02Z")
> [@tomcar](#): > > Ital - rasta sacred food is cooked without these 2 ingredients, especially salt. I have tried ti replace salt with Bragg’s liquid aminos as much as possible, but it is hard. Why? Do you require a low sodium diet? ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sugar-and-salt-is-everywhere-its-probably-even-watching-you-right-now/641125/9 "2012-11-16T01:06:44Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > Why? Do you require a low sodium diet? It is a Babylon additive.