Turning Corn Into a Salt Substitute.

Corn isn't just a food that sits on the cob waiting to be salted. Kris Berglund, professor of chemistry, chemical engineering, and biosystems engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, has discovered a way to turn corn into a salt substitute that lacks sodium and the bitter taste that plagues other salt substitutes. He and his research team devised a way to convert powdered lysine, a salty amino acid made from fermented cornstarch, into a crystal that looks and acts like salt--it sprinkles, dissolves, and cooks. For consumers, HalsoSalt provides a natural salt substitute and a palatable way to reduce intake of added salt in the diet. For the economy, it promises a new market for corn growers.

Salt substitutes currently on the market have two weaknesses that Berglund set out to solve. One kind simply includes less sodium--sort of salt light. Consumers ordered to reduce or eliminate...