Talk:Sea salt

A note

There seems to be no reason to have this page. For one thing, sea salt is NOT sodium chloride (it contains sodium chloride). All of the information can be accomodated in the article salinity Marshman 00:40, 29 Jul 2003 (UTC)

You have to got be kidding me. A section of the taste of salt!!?? Salt is salt and it tastes like salt what is this nonsense about mouthfeel all salt tastes the same and its made of the same stuff. SALT!

I would have thought this article would discuss sea salt in cuisine, sources of sea salt used in cooking (there are several methods of manufacture - I've always wondered how the Brittany method worked exactly), whether it really tastes different, etc - but I see that this is all scientific bits that would be OK for salinity. Stan 01:41, 29 Jul 2003 (UTC)

I agreed (in VFD -- disagreed with myself) that there would be value in keeping sea salt for this other information Marshman 07:03, 30 Jul 2003 (UTC)

I don't see the fuss about having a separate article on sea salt. It's a common item in supermarkets and it is useful to know about it's specific properties and which ones are facts rather than urban legends. --Theorize (talk) 06:03, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

Since sea salt is sometimes touted as a natural more healthy alternative to common table salt, it seems to me entirely appropriate to include a factual article about it. In my search to identify it's constituents, all the breakdowns I have seen are in terms of atomic composition as opposed to molecular composition. The latter would arguably be far more useful in determining any potential health benefits and in understanding the effect of sea salt on the human body. E.g, I believe one of sea salts molecular constituents is Magnesium Sulphate, a laxative.Emansnas (talk) 05:57, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

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• sea salt - This page is somewhat redundant with salinity. I suggest deletion after material under sea salt (which has value) is moved to salinity. Marshman 01:06, 29 Jul 2003 (UTC)
  • I've gone ahead and moved material out of sea salt into salinity. Now I see there is also a page sea water. This too seems a redundant topic that could be blended into salinity. I'm open to suggestions as sea water is a common term -- but I note if one types seawater (also correct), one is transported to Oyster culture. Marshman 01:38, 29 Jul 2003 (UTC)
  • I guess I'm just talking to myself here ~ But went ahead and created a redirect from seawater to sea water. I'm now inclined to think we want to keep sea water and persue slightly different thoughts under salinity and ocean-only sea water Marshman 02:15, 29 Jul 2003 (UTC)
  • Sea salt has a seperate meaning as a culinary term, I added some information on this aspect. SimonP 20:25, Jul 29, 2003 (UTC)
    • I removed a statement that sea salt is typically <20% salt. In most countries anything sold as "food grade" salt must be at least 95% NaCl, and raw seawater mineral content is typically about 75% NaCl. Ref: Codex Alimentarius http://www.ceecis.org/iodine/07_legislation/00_mainpage/codex_food_grade_salt.pdf Chuck
  • Sea salt has historial importance. For example, the salt march of Mohandas Gandhi is a classical example of nonviolent disobedience. Somebody should add a section about history of sea salt in the article. wshun 23:05, 29 Jul 2003 (UTC)
    • I agree, the more technical aspects should be under sea water and salinity / sea salt could be used for the culinary and social/historical aspects of this important substance. Marshman 23:41, 29 Jul 2003 (UTC)
    • Keep Sea Salt for Culinary and cultural information reasons, very distinct from sea water. RB-Ex-MrPolo 06:56, 31 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Suggestion: merge

I suggest this article is merged with the article "Edible salt". --Eleassar777 11:56, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Indeed. Now that's a sensible merger. --Wetman 11:58, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)

There has also been a massive omission of Cayman Sea Salt.See caymanseasalt.com

• Not a bad suggestion. I'm starting to wonder whether Table salt should cease to be a redirect, since some people consider it to be synonymous with sodium chloride, whereas others with edible salt. --Rebroad 14:35, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Enough With The Suggestions To Get Rid Of This Page

I found this page by searching for "sea salt" in Wikipedia. So stop believing your suggestions are what's best for the readers. I never would have assumed to search for this information under "salinity", or even "edible salt", as Sea Salt is marketed and known by this name.

• I second this. Chefs and gourmands regard sea salt as distinct from table salt as an ingredient in recipes; this should be enough reason to distinguish the two. --Soultaco 21:58, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

• I third this. Table Salt (pure Sodium Cloride) is "Industrial Waste" with all the beneficial minerals stripped-out.

These "other minerals" are very valuable commercially, and are commodities in themselves.

• There is a reason for this page. But I do have a problem with the "some claims" of a different taste. I believe that the Einstein reference says it doesn't "necessarily" taste different, which is true. And it's not necessarily different for people avoiding salt in their diet. The way the article is worded however, implies that some people claim it can *never* be distinguished. The different taste should be one of the main concerns of this article. Also the Einstein book

http://www2.wwnorton.com/catalog/spring02/001183excerpt.htm gets the whole cooking pasta issue wrong. You add salt after it boils, because salt water takes longer to boil, you add salt with the pasta, so that the saltiness cooks into the pasta, so that salt is more evenly distributed in the dish. So I don't trust the book entirely. Another important point here is that most salt used today is a bi-product of oil discovery and production, that's why salt is so cheap. mjolsnes Oct 2006

• The people that think "Salt is just salt" have no idea what they are talking about. There is a HUGE difference between sea salt, and salt that is mined or quarried. Also, there is a lot of variation to all of the salts. Do you homework. There are at least 100 different types of salt out there with different tastes, qualities, and minerals.Magneteye (talk) 22:07, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

Amen brother , If you don't use Sea Salt in your diet, then YOU have no clue of what the benefits are and you should not be making off-hand, ignorant comments about it .

Sea Salt contains over 600 vital minerals, (get that... vital--minerals = Vitamins ), in the perfect proportions that your body needs for optimum health . It does not contain every vitamin that you need, but you won't find this perfect mix in the usual vitamin pill.... So, why not enjoy the noticeably better flavor and get what you body needs at the same time ? Proof of the benefits of Sea Salt are easy to experience for yourself..... All you have to do is remember a time when you felt totally drained of energy by working outside in the direct sun for several hours , now, start using Sea Salt for several weeks instead of "Table Salt" (pure Sodium Cloride, with all the commercially valuable minerals stripped-out of it), you will notice that the extreme heat and physical exertion no longer affects you AT ALL, the only difference is that you will have much more profuse sweating, this is because your body is no longer trying desperately to retain the vital minerals that it would naturally lose by sweating . There are other benefits as well, sweating is the only way that your body dispose of many different poisons and wastes, therefore, you could say that Sea Salt assists your bodies natural cleansing efforts . Also, the popular misconception that salt "Gives You" high blood pressure is totally superstitious balderdash, if you eliminate salt from your diet YOU WILL DIE FROM LACK OF SALT!!! Lowering or eliminating your intake of salt WILL, in fact, lower your blood pressure, this is solely due to the fact that your bodily functions are shutting-down, in other words, you are trying to kill yourself. If you are "controlling" your blood pressure by way of limiting your salt intake, your blood pressure will increase again within 'minutes' of ingesting more salt. Limiting your intake of salt to lower your blood pressure is not a viable solution, changing your diet, and your life-style, and what you think about, and what you "believe", and what you say to yourself over and over again, these are the only things that can permanently "fix" your high blood pressure .

Content for Water Cure

I propose adding a section to this article regarding the belief of using unrefined, pure sea salt, as an alternative medicine. Details can be found at www.watercure2.com. It's relevant to at least have a link to an approriate page that documents this belief.

Wow

who knew so many people cared this much about salt?

Health benefits?

The Taste section currently begins, "Its purported health benefits notwithstanding…". What purported health benefits are those? —mjb 04:10, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Health Benefits

"Its purported health benefits notwithstanding, gourmets believe sea salt to be superior to ordinary table salt."

This sentence references purported health benefits which are never discussed in the article.

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I would be curious to see any info related to the impact of sea salt on hypertension as compared to regular salt's impact. There seems to be less Na per gram in sea salt, and Na is what is usually blamed for increasing blood pressure, but is there any evidence to say that sea salt is better for you? Tom Hubbard (talk) 20:58, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Caveat emptor

Many consumer brands of sea salt are pure sodium chloride. It's just refined from seawater instead of rock salt. These brands sell a salt that tastes no different but has a different texture (usually coarser) than garden-variety "table salt". Buyers should check that what they're buying is unrefined seawater evaporate, if they really want the sea salt that doesn't taste like a purified chemical. That's what sodium chloride tastes like to me. 68.121.165.9 20:13, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

This raises a good point- what, exactly, is the "legal" definition of "sea salt". The reason I visited this page was to see what the FDA (or whomever) requires - Just like "organic" or "natural", these labels are getting harder to figure out! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.123.160.138 (talk) 22:29, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

I have found no legal definition of sea salt, and my experience is that even reputable producers do not detail their product analysis, if they ever do one. There is little discussion of the metabolic or culinary effects of the ~15% by weight of 'other' components of sea salt, and none about possible contaminants and organic matter (algy, diatoms, fungi, other microbes, and increasing pollutants) that must be in any sea water residue, and therefore certainly in at least some 'sea salt' labeled products.
Wikidity (talk) 23:29, 7 May 2011 (UTC)

Misleading?

I'm a little concerned about this statement:

"However, unrefined sea salt contains many important minerals that regular iodized table salt does not contain."

Does it contain them in amounts that are significant to a person's health? If not, I think this assertion is somewhat misleading. I mean a Snickers bar contains important minerals too, but people don't really consider them especially healthy...

Forgot to sign! Actionsquid

okay well i gotta question does anyone know how it is transported? its homewrk that is the only reason im on this thing! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.238.114.153 (talk) 21:59, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Calcium and potassium are definitely important for health, but they're also easy to get from other sources. It'd be incorrect to say sea salt has no health benefit, but it'd be naive to think it's a significant one over, like, vitamin pills. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.73.70.113 (talk) 03:20, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

Magnesium is important to heart health, and it is the second most abundant electrolyte in sea salt. It is missing in refined salt. It is not easy to replace the 100's of milligrams of magnesium missing from a daily dose of refined salt. It would collectively cost Americans of the order of $10B annually for magnesium supplements.

Reliance on supplements to overcome dietary deficiencies of modern table salt is an expensive and non-standard approach to protecting our food supply. To avoid the need for iodine supplements, American law requires salt manufacturers to add iodine to their product. It compensates for deficiencies in salt processing. For thousands of years salt in food contained all the electrolytes in useful proportion, plus other minerals. If modern refining of salt removed some healthful components, the reasonable course of action would be to have them restored.

Also, the human body needs electrolytes in balance. It would not be surprising if the main dietary problem with salt today is that sodium ingestion without the proportional ingestion of magnesium, potassium and calcium creates electrolyte imbalances. Keeping the electrolytes in balance seems simplified by using a salt throughout the food industry that has these electrolytes in balance, though some research on this specific issue seems needed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.100.189.67 (talk) 18:06, 11 September 2009 (UTC)

Taste and health

"Gourmets often believe sea salt to be better than ordinary table salt in taste and texture, though one cannot always taste the difference when dissolved." This sentence needs some rewording to sound less biased.

"However, unrefined sea salt contains many minerals that regular iodized table salt does not contain, such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, sulfate, and traces of others (including heavy metals such as mercury, lead, and cadmium, as well as strontium)." sounds really interesting. I would really like to know more about the possibility of heavy metals in sea salt, but I haven't been able to find anything conclusive with regular internet searches. Can someone contribute more information here? --Theorize (talk) 05:59, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

I found the page through a Google search on "Sea Salt" because I was curious about the potential for heavy metals in sea salt. I would indeed love to see more information on this one. If it's just evaporated sea water, shouldn't there be all kinds of nasty things in there? I use sea salt and now I wonder. AncientWolf (talk) 22:42, 15 April 2009 (UTC)AncientWolf

What Einstein told his cook

The following book:

• Wolke, Robert L.; Parrish, Marlene (2002). What Einstein told his cook. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 49–55. ISBN 0393011836.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

asserts the following:

• Salt harvested by solar evaporation of sea water produces salt that is 10 times as concentrated in sodium chloride as normal salt water.
• Sea salt sold in the stores may not necessarily have been taken from the sea.
• The flavor benefits of sea salt come from the fact that they are produced by slow evaporation techniques, yielding flakes instead of cubes.

Does commercial sea salt include less Sodium than regular table salt? It doesn't sound like it.—RJH (talk) 21:38, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

Downsides to Sea Salt

With our oceans and seas so polluted, what does this do to salt that is harvested from the sea? Does anyone know what downers there might be to injesting sea salt? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.202.229.174 (talk) 02:30, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

Pollution

If sea salt is just dried-out, unpurified seawater from bays, and bays are constantly polluted by factories and ships going by (Ship pollution), does sea salt contain all these pollutants, too? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.167.68.161 (talk) 14:39, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Incorrect Chemical Composition

There is a "Composition" section as well as a picture of the composition at the top of the page. The text "Sea salt is primarily composed of the following ions" accompanies the section. Solids should not have ions. Liquids can have ions. The listed composition is the composition of salt water. Salt water is not sea salt. As salt water sun dries, the ions in it should bond and it'll become mostly NaCl (not Na and Cl separately, as many internet pages seem to list). I trust this page [1] which says the other stuff in sea salt is negligible and sea salt has almost the same NaCl by weight as table salt. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.227.39.116 (talk) 20:36, 25 September 2010 (UTC)

Salt by any other name is still salt.

The salt that is mined from the earth IS sea salt, it's just produced by natural methods and aged (for example, the Great Salt Lake's salt flats are the remnants of an inland sea. The sea was cut off from its water supply and exit to the oceans and evaporated. Just like you make "sea salt" only this occurred naturally (which is to say, without people present). All salt mines are merely dried up sea beds that were subducted by plate tectonics. The comment about minerals being "stripped out" of mined salt is hilarious. What purpose would that serve other than to increase the cost of production? Give me a break. Renglish (talk) 18:08, 15 June 2011 (UTC)

I am equally sceptical. Nothing in this article convinces me that the difference is anything formal or clearly identifiable. It all seems like marketing and fashion to me. HiLo48 (talk) 20:39, 15 June 2011 (UTC)

Sea salt consistency

Is the last sentence in the paragraph not contradicting the sentence before??