Guess I'll have to head to the dollar store for those cans of no-added-salt tomatoes.

I do like the Muir Glen no-added-salt tomatoes, but I can always stand to save some money.

I've found that dollar-type stores don't always save you money. And there's a lot of reasons why the products would be there. Could be close expiration dates, overproduction or any number of valid reasons.

I buy the reduced salt products whenever I can. Neither DH nor I have high blood pressure, but why push our luck? Besides, I'm not a big salt lover.

DH likes salt better than I do. Your story reminded me of a couple of times I've eaten someone else's food. Once, when I was a child, I tasted some of my grandmother's eggs that she didn't want, and they were so salty they were inedible. Recently, I did the same with some of DH's food that he didn't want. Again, it was too salty for me. Some things I like a little bit salty, but I'm always amazed when people add salt to food I already thought was salty enough.

I've become picky about canned tomatoes, though. I don't know what it is, but some of the brands I've gotten over the years that used to taste just fine now taste off to me. They may cost more, but now I buy Cento or Muir Glen. Somehow, I doubt I'd find those brands at the dollar store.

Sally

My aunt used salt very heavily. One time, when I saw her salting a BLT, I asked her what needed salting. She responded that the tomato had no salt and that was why she was adding it. When I eat a BLT all I really taste is the bacon, and that is plenty salty, even for me!

I buy the salt free products whenever I find them. Of products I buy, so far I've found canned tomatoes, salmon and most recently, chicken & beef broth in salt free, and I hope that trend continues. Sodium content is through the roof on so many products it's scary. I prefer to add my own salt, which is way less than the salted products contain.

I am here to disagree with cynic. I have bought Muir Glen organic tomatoes at the dollar Tree.....and Friday I bought 5 boxes of low sodium MSG free chicken broth with a sell by date of March 2013. I have had the brand before and really like it.
I frequently find outdated products on the grocery store shelves but never have at Dollar Tree ( there are several $ stores). Often a product will have a "sell by" date that is a month or so away, but that's no big deal.
At one time Dollar Tree had Muellers pasta for $.69 a pound. That cut $5.00 from the cost of several funeral lunches.
I don't use many canned or jarred products....most of them would be laughable to even think of "salt free"....things like pickles and sourkraut are high on my list! LOL!

When I bought the cans of no added salt tomato sauce their out dates were well in the future. My reason for buying then, besides money saved, was because I believe it is wiser to be able to salt to my taste and not passively eat prepared foods that are very salty. However, the lack of salt in the tomato sauce was quite noticeable to me.

I was in BJ's and took a sample of a French fry that was being offered. I bit into it and immediately made a face and the employee asked what was wrong. I told her I needed salt. I would have appreciated a salt shaker on her table. She explained to me that she wasn't allowed to add any salt. I do understand but the unsalted fry was too bland for my taste. When I watch cooking shows on TV I am always amazed by the amount of salt the chef adds. They always have a salt bowl and add several pinches. I think they use more salt than I would prefer.

Taste is soooooo subjective, and salt, and salt use, is one of the more interesting ones. Salt is a necessary electrolyte to help maintain a proper balance of fluids, but most people consume much more than the recommended 1 teaspoon per day. We crave salt when we workout or sweat from exertion, because the balance is out-of-whack.

The occasional order of French fries we get, we'll request no added salt, or I'll strip the salt off each one before I eat it.

I've gotten into making our own chips in the microwave (white and sweet potatoes and other root vegetables) when we want chips with sandwiches, and I don't salt them. I discovered we'll eat twice as many if I lightly salt them (which is the reason with Lay's, you can't eat just one, I suppose). On the rare occasions I buy potato chips, I buy an unsalted brand. We really enjoy the true potato taste of these chips. I make my own tortilla chips as well and don't top them with salt either, just what the dough is salted when I make the tortillas. We find commercially salted products are just over-loaded with salt, but that's because we are accustomed to low-salt use.

I use tomato powder, which is dried tomatoes and nothing else added, to make tomato products (paste, sauce, juice, bbq sauce, pizza sauce, etc....) and add salt to taste, but only a tiny bit. A little salt actually makes the tomato products taste a little sweeter when added in small amounts - much as a pinch of salt in baked goods helps them taste sweeter. While too much salt masks the true flavor of foods.

My father had Addison's Disease and he required large amounts of added salt, and anything without that liberal dose of salt, and he considered it bland and tasteless. So that's the other side of the coin.

-Grainlady

I've not noticed low salt chips, but I don't buy chips very often, and when I do I get the ones with the fewest ingredients listed. Some brands of tortilla chips are so salty they burn my mouth and lips.

Tomatoes are something that I've never felt the need to salt. Pepper, yes, but salt, no.

Sally

Art's and Mary's Kettle Style Chips have several flavors of chips including a no added salt - zero mg of sodium. I can find them at Wal-Mart and our local Dillon's (Kroger affiliated) store. -Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Art's and Mary's

I very much dislike salt added to sweet foods. Some people will add salt to fruit, but I will not eat it that way. I also do not add salt to corn as I find it no longer tastes sweet when salt is added. If the corn is very fresh, I will not add butter either. I like salt and butter on popcorn, however, but I buy reduced salt or salt free tortilla chips.

I find that certain baked goods do need salt, but that is to counteract leavening that has been added. I do not automatically salt everything like the chefs on TV, especially the East Coast chefs, who use more salt than the West Coast chefs. I like very bland foods, and I also prefer squash and zucchini with no salt. Squash tastes sweet to me without salt, but spinach will taste bitter without salt. I often add salt to something that otherwise tastes bitter. I think that salt balances bitter the way that sweet balances sour, although I do not know of a balance for umami.

Lars

Mudlay, I sort-of understand your disappointment with the no-salt-added tomato products. I've found that the Cento brand unsalted tomato puree and crushed tomatoes taste really good while other brands are a gamble. I need to cook low sodium for my husband's sake, and I've found that some dishes transition well to little or no added salt while others can taste pretty bland. Sometimes, even using more herbs & spices plus drizzles of vinegar and/or lemon juice aren't enough to offset the missing salt. When that's the case, I know I need to completely revamp how I make that dish.

That said, I've learned to really enjoy no-salt-added french fries. For me, the crispy outside and the yummy potato flavor are enough. The same for unsalted potato chips. I can get 2-3 different brands at my local grocery stores, so they've become our regular afternoon treat. It's something my husband really looks forward too.

I, for one, am thrilled that so many new low sodium options are showing up on grocery store shelves. It's great to have products available like tomato sauce, chicken broth, peanut butter, cheese, deli turkey and ham, rice mixes, sliced breads, frozen dinners, etc. I'm mainly a "from scratch" cook, but sometimes I'm tired or sick and need a break. Being able to use low sodium grocery store products really helps.