PURPOSE: To suppress the salty taste of a food with a high salt content and improve the keeping quality thereof, by adding a specific amount of sodium acetate to a material in the preparation step of the food or the food itself, and adjusting the pH to a specific value.

CONSTITUTION: In preparing a food with a high salt content of good keeping quality without a strong salty taste, 0.8W5wt%, based on the food, sodium acetate is added to the food, and the pH threrof is adjusted to 4W7. In this case, the food with a high salt content refers to a food containing 3.5wt% or more common salt, and, e.g. salted cod roe, salmon roe or fish guts, or pickles such as a pickled UME, may be cited. More favorable results are obtained if this method is applied to a food with a salt content ≥4wt%. For adjusting the pH of the food with a high salt content to 4W7, various edible organic and inorganic acids, e.g. fumaric acid or tartaric acid, or salts thereof are used.