Hippie Con-diment Poses as Low-Sodium

I still remember, years ago, bearing witness to a child's request for her mother's 'special sauce' on brown rice.  The mother, an acquaintance of mine, enthusiastically obliged her, and me, when I asked what made the sauce so special. "Oh, it's just flax seed oil and Bragg's All Purpose Seasoning," she announced happily, "which is like a salt-free substitute for soy sauce." 

The reason the event stands out in my memory is it was one of the few times I chose to keep my mouth shut, though I had detected a factual error begging be corrected.  The child's mother is a lovely person and I didn't want to put her on the spot; I also didn't want her to think I objected to her daughter enjoying some flax seed oil and Bragg's on her rice.  In fact, this is a delicious combination I think you should try, on rice or hot vegetables, which is what I use it for.  Flax seed makes a rich, nutty-tasting oil you can use like butter.  And Bragg's is indeed a mouthwatering alternative to soy sauce.  It is every bit as tasty as traditional soy, and it offers up a different, maybe even more complex flavor, but it is not salt-free. 


So try the flax seed oil and Bragg's! Bring on the fat and salt!

Bragg's markets itself to hippies on the premise that it is chock-full of amino acids, many of which are indeed essential to human nutrition.   Perhaps it's even safe to say that Bragg's is healthy for you.   Nonetheless, one of the (non-essential) amino acids in Bragg's is glutamic acid, which contains salt.  Glutamic acid is actually what they get MSG from (more specifically, monosodium glutamate is a crystalline salt of glutamic acid).   This is why Bragg's is so damn tasty- it contains a whackload of salt.   However, I am suspicious that Bragg's wants us to think otherwise. 

At its most upfront, Bragg's free-loving website murmurs that its All Purpose Seasoning "contains a small amount of naturally occurring salt"; yet, elsewhere, it is more conniving in emphasizing that "No table salt is added".  The latter statement strikes me as purposely misleading.  Sodium is sodium, regardless of the proverbial table.  It would be just as absurd to boast "No table salt added" to any number of gourmet salts.  And of course sodium is naturally occurring. Good grief, people- it's an element!

So how much sodium is in Bragg's All Purpose Seasoning? What, in fact, does Bragg's consider to be a "small amount" of salt? Well, on its website, Bragg's APS owns up to having 160 mg of sodium per 1/2 tsp- that is, per 2.5 ml.  On the bottle in my fridge it says it has 110 mg per 2.4 ml (which is less but since it's the exact same product, the discrepancy makes me trust Bragg's even less).  The soy sauce in my fridge admits to having 860 mg of sodium per 15 ml.  Time for math!

Students, in 15 ml there are 6 units of 2.5 ml.  Multiply 160 x 6 and you have 960 mg of sodium in 15 ml of Bragg's- 100 mg more than in the soy sauce in my fridge!! 

Of course, you deserve to know what kind of soy sauce is in my fridge. True confessions, I got it at a Chinese grocery store and its label refers to the 15 ml serving not as a tablespoon but as a 'bowlful'.  The brand is written in Chinese characters and the only English says 'Superior Light Soy Sauce'.  Okay, so I have light soy sauce.  Bragg's has more sodium than one obscure brand of light soy sauce.  What about regular Kikkoman soy sauce?

Sorry Bragg's. 920.  Kikkoman regular soy sauce has 920 mg of sodium per 15 ml serving.  And its light version has 50% less than that, i.e., 460.  If the lower Bragg's estimate of 110 mg per 2.4 ml reading is the correct one, then Bragg's would have roughly 687 mg of sodium per 15 ml- less than regular Kikkoman soy sauce but more than light. 

So, what, Bragg's, are you relying on hippies' shitty math skills, printing a ridiculously small serving size of 1/2 tsp and hoping we don't realize your APS is extremely high in naturally occurring, non-table-related salt?  I don't think it's the metaphorical use of the word 'table' that makes me bloated after sushi, Bragg's.  You're full of salt and shit!

Readers, for those of you who don't wish to look like you've crossed into your third trimester after your first salmon ngiri, I recommend you bypass the Bragg's and reach for the Kikkoman light.  Of course, if you aren't worried about bloat or salt, go ahead and shake on the Bragg's.  Deceit can be truly delectable.

And if anyone is offended that I have labeled Bragg's target market as 'hippies', let me alert you to their website, http://www.bragg.com/, which on a recent visit bore the statement "May Your Life Be Filled with the Majestic Beauty of Mother Earth". 

You can't argue with science!