Beef jerky, pickles, and smoked salmon are just a few examples of foods that are preserved using salt. While it can keep them fresher longer, it doesn’t entirely rule out the possibility they can give you food poisoning.
This article goes over how salt is used to keep food fresh, including the types of foods that are commonly preserved this way.
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How Salt Preserves Food
As a preservative, salt works in two ways:
- Salt Dries Food Out
Salt draws water out of food and dehydrates it. All living things need water and cannot grow without it—including bacteria that can causefood poisoning.
For example, in butter, salt draws water out and leaves fat behind, which helps butter from spoiling.
- Salt Kills Microbes
High salt is toxic to most—but not all—microbes because of the effect of water pressure.
Water goes between cells in the environment to make the concentration of salt (and other solutes) the same on both sides of the cell. In very high salt solutions, many microbes will explode because of the difference in pressure between the outside and inside of the organism.
High salt can also be toxic to processes inside microbes, like DNA and enzymes.Solutions that are high in sugar have the same effects on microbes, which is why it is used as a preservative in foods like jams and jellies.
Misconceptions About Salt As Preservative
If you assume that salty foods aren’t a food poisoning risk, think again.
While it’s true that many of the bacteria that can cause food poisoning do not grow well in salty conditions, there are some thatneedsalt to grow.
Called halophiles, they don’t exactly love salt, but they can survive in it because they have a warning system for detecting very salty conditions that helps them avoid losing water (halotolerant).
It’s also important to know that bacteria are not the only thing that can make you sick. Molds can also be a source of foodborne illness and are able survive higher salt levels than bacteria.
How Salty Is Salty?About 1 cup of salt dissolved in 7.5 cups of water would give you a solution that is about 10% salt. To get a sense of how that would taste, think of a time when you may have accidentally swallowed ocean water. The 10% salt solution would be around three times saltier than that.
How Salty Is Salty?
About 1 cup of salt dissolved in 7.5 cups of water would give you a solution that is about 10% salt. To get a sense of how that would taste, think of a time when you may have accidentally swallowed ocean water. The 10% salt solution would be around three times saltier than that.
Salt Content of Foods: Is It High Enough to Be Safe?
None of the foods that may immediately come to mind when thinking of something salty come even close to the 10% salt threshold for preventing bacterial growth. Even foods traditionally thought of as salt-preserved foods don’t.
Salt-Preserved Foods
Additional features these foods have—such as dehydration (beef jerky) or the addition of acid (pickles) or preservatives (ham)—help prevent spoilage. In addition, many salt-preserved foods need to be refrigerated after opening to slow microbial growth.
Other Salty Foods
Brines and Condiments
Brines and condiments are known to have high salt content, but not high enough to inhibit bacterial growth. For example:
Craving Salt: Is It a Symptom of a Medical Condition?
Does Soy Sauce Need to Be Refrigerated?It depends on the level of salt content. Bacterial growth may occur in lower-sodium soy sauces over time and affect the food safety. If storing a soy sauce with low levels of salt meaning less than 15%, it may be wise to refrigerate.
Does Soy Sauce Need to Be Refrigerated?
It depends on the level of salt content. Bacterial growth may occur in lower-sodium soy sauces over time and affect the food safety. If storing a soy sauce with low levels of salt meaning less than 15%, it may be wise to refrigerate.
Do Higher Salt Levels Prevent Spoilage Better Than Lower Salt Levels?
For most edible foods, raising the salt content too high will prove detrimental to the flavor, texture and structure of the preserved food. Additionally, adding lots of salt to foods in an attempt to keep them fresh may cause negative health effects such as high blood pressure.
Bacteria tend to grow differently depending on how salty the conditions. Science labs where bacteria are routinely grown for experiments use a solution called Luria Broth or Lysogeny Broth (LB).
The solutions come in different formulas and salt concentrations depending on what the organisms need to grow. Some LBs have salt concentrations of around 10% while others are between 0.5%-5%.
Many of them also have sugar and other ingredients like yeast that help bacteria grow.
How to Keep Your Food Safe
There is plenty of evidence that salty foods are not microbe-proof.While salt may not be the solution, there are plenty of steps you can take to keep your food safe.
Summary
Salt can be an effective way to preserve food but also increases the sodium content of the food. Using too much salt to try to keep food fresh can also have the opposite effect if it creates the right conditions for bacteria to grow.
Even without salt, there are plenty of steps you can do to keep your food safe, including practicing proper food safety.
16 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Medvedova A, Kocis-Koval M, Valik L.Effect of salt and temperature on the growth of Escherichia coli PSII.AAlim. 2021;50(2):180-188. doi:10.1556/066.2020.00213National Institutes of Health.Symptoms and Causes of Food Poisoning.Rath KM, Maheshwari A, Bengtson P, Rousk J.Comparative Toxicities of Salts on Microbial Processes in Soil.Appl Environ Microbiol. 2016 Jan 22;82(7):2012-2020. doi:10.1128/AEM.04052-15University of California at Davis Library.Other Environmental Conditions that Affect Growth.Rahman SS, Siddique R, Tabassum N.Isolation and identification of halotolerant soil bacteria from coastal Patenga area.BMC Res Notes. 2017;10(1):531. Published 2017 Oct 30. doi:10.1186/s13104-017-2855-7Biango-daniels MN, Hodge KT.Sea salts as a potential source of food spoilage fungi.Food Microbiol.2018;69:89-95. doi:10.1016/j.fm.2017.07.020National Ocean Service.Why is the ocean salty?.Shi Y-C, Lai C-Y, Lee B-H, Wu S-C.The Bacterial and Fungi Microbiota of Soy Sauce-Supplied Lactic Acid Bacteria Treated with High-Pressure Process.Fermentation. 2022; 8(3):97. doi:10.3390/fermentation8030097Cvetković D, Živković V, Lukić V, Nikolić S.Sodium nitrite food poisoning in one family.Forensic Sci Med Pathol. 2019;15(1):102-105. doi:10.1007/s12024-018-0036-1American Society for Microbiology.Luria Broth (LB) and Luria Agar (LA) Media and Their Uses Protocol (PDF).Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.NCEZID: Foodborne disease (food poisoning).Satari L, Guillén A, Latorre-Pérez A, Porcar M.Beyond Archaea: The Table Salt Bacteriome.Front Microbiol. 2021 Oct 29;12:714110. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.714110U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service.Cutting Boards.Consumer Reports.How To Tell Whether Expired Foods Are Safe To Eat.U.S. Food and Drug Administration.The Dangers of Raw Milk: Unpasteurized Milk Can Pose a Serious Health Risk.South Dakota State University Extension.Re-heating and Re-eating Food.
16 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Medvedova A, Kocis-Koval M, Valik L.Effect of salt and temperature on the growth of Escherichia coli PSII.AAlim. 2021;50(2):180-188. doi:10.1556/066.2020.00213National Institutes of Health.Symptoms and Causes of Food Poisoning.Rath KM, Maheshwari A, Bengtson P, Rousk J.Comparative Toxicities of Salts on Microbial Processes in Soil.Appl Environ Microbiol. 2016 Jan 22;82(7):2012-2020. doi:10.1128/AEM.04052-15University of California at Davis Library.Other Environmental Conditions that Affect Growth.Rahman SS, Siddique R, Tabassum N.Isolation and identification of halotolerant soil bacteria from coastal Patenga area.BMC Res Notes. 2017;10(1):531. Published 2017 Oct 30. doi:10.1186/s13104-017-2855-7Biango-daniels MN, Hodge KT.Sea salts as a potential source of food spoilage fungi.Food Microbiol.2018;69:89-95. doi:10.1016/j.fm.2017.07.020National Ocean Service.Why is the ocean salty?.Shi Y-C, Lai C-Y, Lee B-H, Wu S-C.The Bacterial and Fungi Microbiota of Soy Sauce-Supplied Lactic Acid Bacteria Treated with High-Pressure Process.Fermentation. 2022; 8(3):97. doi:10.3390/fermentation8030097Cvetković D, Živković V, Lukić V, Nikolić S.Sodium nitrite food poisoning in one family.Forensic Sci Med Pathol. 2019;15(1):102-105. doi:10.1007/s12024-018-0036-1American Society for Microbiology.Luria Broth (LB) and Luria Agar (LA) Media and Their Uses Protocol (PDF).Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.NCEZID: Foodborne disease (food poisoning).Satari L, Guillén A, Latorre-Pérez A, Porcar M.Beyond Archaea: The Table Salt Bacteriome.Front Microbiol. 2021 Oct 29;12:714110. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.714110U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service.Cutting Boards.Consumer Reports.How To Tell Whether Expired Foods Are Safe To Eat.U.S. Food and Drug Administration.The Dangers of Raw Milk: Unpasteurized Milk Can Pose a Serious Health Risk.South Dakota State University Extension.Re-heating and Re-eating Food.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Medvedova A, Kocis-Koval M, Valik L.Effect of salt and temperature on the growth of Escherichia coli PSII.AAlim. 2021;50(2):180-188. doi:10.1556/066.2020.00213National Institutes of Health.Symptoms and Causes of Food Poisoning.Rath KM, Maheshwari A, Bengtson P, Rousk J.Comparative Toxicities of Salts on Microbial Processes in Soil.Appl Environ Microbiol. 2016 Jan 22;82(7):2012-2020. doi:10.1128/AEM.04052-15University of California at Davis Library.Other Environmental Conditions that Affect Growth.Rahman SS, Siddique R, Tabassum N.Isolation and identification of halotolerant soil bacteria from coastal Patenga area.BMC Res Notes. 2017;10(1):531. Published 2017 Oct 30. doi:10.1186/s13104-017-2855-7Biango-daniels MN, Hodge KT.Sea salts as a potential source of food spoilage fungi.Food Microbiol.2018;69:89-95. doi:10.1016/j.fm.2017.07.020National Ocean Service.Why is the ocean salty?.Shi Y-C, Lai C-Y, Lee B-H, Wu S-C.The Bacterial and Fungi Microbiota of Soy Sauce-Supplied Lactic Acid Bacteria Treated with High-Pressure Process.Fermentation. 2022; 8(3):97. doi:10.3390/fermentation8030097Cvetković D, Živković V, Lukić V, Nikolić S.Sodium nitrite food poisoning in one family.Forensic Sci Med Pathol. 2019;15(1):102-105. doi:10.1007/s12024-018-0036-1American Society for Microbiology.Luria Broth (LB) and Luria Agar (LA) Media and Their Uses Protocol (PDF).Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.NCEZID: Foodborne disease (food poisoning).Satari L, Guillén A, Latorre-Pérez A, Porcar M.Beyond Archaea: The Table Salt Bacteriome.Front Microbiol. 2021 Oct 29;12:714110. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.714110U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service.Cutting Boards.Consumer Reports.How To Tell Whether Expired Foods Are Safe To Eat.U.S. Food and Drug Administration.The Dangers of Raw Milk: Unpasteurized Milk Can Pose a Serious Health Risk.South Dakota State University Extension.Re-heating and Re-eating Food.
Medvedova A, Kocis-Koval M, Valik L.Effect of salt and temperature on the growth of Escherichia coli PSII.AAlim. 2021;50(2):180-188. doi:10.1556/066.2020.00213
National Institutes of Health.Symptoms and Causes of Food Poisoning.
Rath KM, Maheshwari A, Bengtson P, Rousk J.Comparative Toxicities of Salts on Microbial Processes in Soil.Appl Environ Microbiol. 2016 Jan 22;82(7):2012-2020. doi:10.1128/AEM.04052-15
University of California at Davis Library.Other Environmental Conditions that Affect Growth.
Rahman SS, Siddique R, Tabassum N.Isolation and identification of halotolerant soil bacteria from coastal Patenga area.BMC Res Notes. 2017;10(1):531. Published 2017 Oct 30. doi:10.1186/s13104-017-2855-7
Biango-daniels MN, Hodge KT.Sea salts as a potential source of food spoilage fungi.Food Microbiol.2018;69:89-95. doi:10.1016/j.fm.2017.07.020
National Ocean Service.Why is the ocean salty?.
Shi Y-C, Lai C-Y, Lee B-H, Wu S-C.The Bacterial and Fungi Microbiota of Soy Sauce-Supplied Lactic Acid Bacteria Treated with High-Pressure Process.Fermentation. 2022; 8(3):97. doi:10.3390/fermentation8030097
Cvetković D, Živković V, Lukić V, Nikolić S.Sodium nitrite food poisoning in one family.Forensic Sci Med Pathol. 2019;15(1):102-105. doi:10.1007/s12024-018-0036-1
American Society for Microbiology.Luria Broth (LB) and Luria Agar (LA) Media and Their Uses Protocol (PDF).
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.NCEZID: Foodborne disease (food poisoning).
Satari L, Guillén A, Latorre-Pérez A, Porcar M.Beyond Archaea: The Table Salt Bacteriome.Front Microbiol. 2021 Oct 29;12:714110. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.714110
U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service.Cutting Boards.
Consumer Reports.How To Tell Whether Expired Foods Are Safe To Eat.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration.The Dangers of Raw Milk: Unpasteurized Milk Can Pose a Serious Health Risk.
South Dakota State University Extension.Re-heating and Re-eating Food.
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