Others are working on ingredients: Nu-Tek Salt has come up with a salt that replaces sodium with potassium to reduce the risk of heart disease.

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In the right circumstances these channels will allow the passage of sodium ions (the liquid to be investigated must have these added in the form of sodium chloride, or common salt, if they are not present naturally).

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"For years, food companies have been introducing a wide variety of new products into the marketplace containing no sodium or low sodium or with no added salt, " Brian Kennedy, the association's communications director, said in a statement.

CNN: U.S. limits urged for salt in processed food

Choose sodium-free, low-sodium, or no-salt-added convenience foods.

CNN: How to be sodium savvy

Nu-Tek Salt has come up with a way to replace salt, or sodium chloride, in food with a proprietary crystal fashioned from potassium chloride and an organic acid. (see photo.) It tastes like salt, behaves like salt in recipes, and has the same texture and feel.

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There's even a rust-colored, iron-rich sodium from Tibet, hauled out of salt mines by yaks.

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Current molten salt mixes are typically 60% sodium nitrate and 40% potassium nitrate.

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Salt, of course, is sodium chloride.

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The remainder will end up in salt ponds where various compounds -- sodium chloride, gypsum, calcium carbonate -- can be extracted and potentially commercialized.

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The machine blends iron, bleach and sodium hydroxide to form a dark purple liquid mixture of ferrate, salt and water that gets metered into the water supply. (The color disappears instantly as it reacts with the water.) Common disinfectants ozone and chlorine can turn the water cloudy or, worse, leave behind harmful chemical by-products.

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If the label gives the sodium content, multiply by 2.5 to get the amount of salt.

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Because salt is so pervasive in our food supply, "One has to be sodium-conscious at every step: at purchase, at preparation, and at consumption, " says Jones.

CNN: How to be sodium savvy

The solution (pun intended) involved tacking sodium dithionite and hydro-chloride onto the antibiotic, making it into a water-soluble salt. (Drugs prepared as hydrochlorides are commonplace.) To keep the chemicals from oxidizing, Adams tested 50 different agents, such as citric acid and ascorbic acid, and played with various ratios until he got the right pH balance.

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The Salt Institute, which represents salt producers, says that instituting a one-size-fits-all policy on sodium could hurt some consumers.

CNN: U.S. limits urged for salt in processed food