Beyond its own taste, salt also masks bitter flavors and counters a side effect of processed food production called “warmed-over flavor,” which, the scientists said, can make meat taste like “cardboard” or ‘damp dog hair.’

From Michael Moss’s excellent “Hard Sell on Salt,” in the Times. Among other things, he details attempts by manufacturers to reduce sodium in things like Cheez-Its, Kellogg’s Cornflakes and Eggos, with predictable results. He doesn’t get into the concurrent rise in gourmet salt, which would have been super interesting, but it is still a great piece.