Potassium chloride taste and mixes with sodium chloride
What it found
In taste tests with people, adding potassium chloride made samples taste slightly more salty, and mixing it with sodium chloride reduced bitter, chemical and metallic tastes.
What they found
Studies in people
Saltiness
Adding potassium chloride increased how salty the samples tasted a little. The word salty was picked more often when sodium chloride was also in the mix.
Unpleasant tastes
When sodium chloride was added alongside potassium chloride, tasters reported less bitterness, chemical taste and metallic taste.
What the authors conclude
“Adding NaCl in a mixture with KCl decreases unpleasant side tastes associated with KCl, such as bitter, chemical, and metallic.”
Also in their conclusions
- They report that adding potassium chloride slightly increases salt perception.
- They state that adding sodium chloride in a mixture with potassium chloride decreases unpleasant side tastes such as bitter, chemical and metallic.
How it was done
Consumers want to cut down on sodium for health reasons, and the food industry needs ways to lower sodium while keeping products tasty. Potassium chloride is one possible substitute, but many people find it has unpleasant off-tastes.
Panelists were given mixtures with different amounts of sodium chloride and potassium chloride. They used a check-all-that-apply ballot with a set list of terms to describe each sample.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This was a taste test, so it can only show what tasters reported for these samples. It cannot show what happens when people eat potassium chloride over time.
The paper
- Title
- Taste properties of potassium chloride alone and in mixtures with sodium chloride using a check-all-that-apply method
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Sinopoli DA, Lawless HT (2012). Taste properties of potassium chloride alone and in mixtures with sodium chloride using a check-all-that-apply method. Journal of food science. doi:10.1111/j.1750-3841.2012.02862.xPubMed 22901084DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error