I was also wondering about that same thing, Brian. While I called their consumer line and inquired, I was told that there were no additives, but it couldn't be called food-grade because it does not go through the rigorous standards of the edible versions. But I still don't know what the heck the bottom line is on that.

"You may have also heard that sea salts contain more minerals than table salt. Again not true according to Wolke. The process of crystallization actually purifies the salt to its basic elements – NaCl"

I was told by my nutritionist to pick out sea salt that was still off color not white because then it hasn't been purified to remove the minerals. Based on that I'm confused about your statement: if its down to its basic structure, why does my celtic sea salt have a different color and 330mg of sodium per 1/4 teaspoon vs table salt at 590mg per 1/4 teaspoon. Plus, wouldn't there have to be something else in it beyond the basic chemistry crystal structure NaCl to change it's color? I doubt they would add dyes but if it's all a marketing gimmick then that would still be a strong possibility, but it wouldn't explain the difference in sodium content on the nutritional label. Please enlighten me! I'm never happy about falling for marketing gimmicks but I know my body reacts different to sea salt vs iodized salt noniodized salt and kosher salt.

Also the salt grinder I use isn't to make it fresher. It's because I had issues with the already ground celtic sea salt. It appears to absorb a LOT more moisture than table salt because the salt shaker and bag of salt would stick together much worse than table salt. So, I started buying the less expensive, larger grain salt and grinding it because even if it's stuck together, grinding it still gets it out of the bottle and onto my vegetables. I only mention this because the difference in physical properties between table salt and my celtic sea salt doesn't add up if it's both NaCl and NaCl only. How do they get away with this?

Not being an expert in salt is why I referred to what I heard Robert L. Wolke say on NPR. I did a quick search and found this interesting article that was posted in the Washington Post on September 6, 2000 that may answer some of your questions. I will say that when you buy any kind of sea salt there is more to it than basic NaCl and that's why it comes in various colors and has different tastes. I'm not saying that these additional minerals aren't good for you or add another layer of flavor. I don't know. I'm not a food scientist. I was just expressing what I heard Mr Wolke say that day.

If you read part 1 from the Wall Street Journal article on salt, I think you will have a better understanding of what sea salt is and what is not. I've also provided a link so you can read part 2 and part three of the article. I hope this helps - RG

Robert L. Wolke

Please tell me about sea salt. Why are so many chefs and recipes using it these days?

Boy, am I glad you asked that question! I've been waiting for a good excuse to vent my spleen on that subject. Stand back.

There is so much nonsense out there about sea salt that it's hard to know where to begin. It's easy to dismiss the assertions of some health-food faddists, who often require no evidence whatsoever before adopting a fervent conviction. Among the statements I've seen are that sea salt is "unrefined," "organic," "more natural," "more healthful" and "a living food," whatever that means. (Does it bite back?)

Poppycock, all. 'Nuff said.

Moving from the ridiculous to the sublime, it's not quite as easy to dismiss the pronouncements of respected chefs and cookbook authors, whose statements tend to be accepted as gospel even when misguided. Their misguided statements tend to cluster around two supposed virtues of sea salt: its high mineral content (a claim made even more passionately by health-food addicts) and its superior flavor. I'll address the mineral question in this column and the flavor issue in my next one.

Those magnificent minerals

If you evaporate all the water from a bucket of ocean (fish previously removed), you will be left with a sticky, gray, bitter- tasting sludge that is about 78 percent sodium chloride--salt. Ninety-nine percent of the rest consists of magnesium and calcium compounds. Beyond that, there are at least 75 other elements in very small amounts. That last fact is the basis for the ubiquitous claim that sea salt is "loaded with nutritious minerals." But cold, hard chemical analysis tells the tale: The minerals, even in this raw, unprocessed stuff, are present in nutritionally negligible quantities. You'd have to eat two tablespoons of it to get the amount of iron, for example, in a single grape.

Bowl of salt sludge, anyone? Not in the United States, because although people in coastal regions of some countries do use this raw material as a condiment, the Food and Drug Administration requires that food-grade salt be at least 97.5 percent pure sodium chloride.

But that's only the beginning of the Great Mineral Hoax. Because of how food-grade sea salt is extracted, the stuff that winds up in the stores contains about 10 times less mineral matter than the raw salt sludge. Food-grade sea salt is obtained by allowing the sun to
evaporate much of the water, but by no means all of it--and that's a critical distinction--from shallow ponds of seawater. When the concentration of sodium chloride in the ponds gets to be about nine times what it was in the ocean, it begins to crystallize out, whereupon it is raked or scooped out for subsequent washing, drying and packaging.

The vital point that nobody seems to realize--or admit--is that this "natural" crystallization process is in itself an extremely effective refining step. Sun-induced evaporation and crystallization make the sodium chloride about 10 times purer-- freer of other minerals—than it was in the ocean.

Here's why.

Whenever you have a water solution containing a preponderance of one chemical (in this case sodium chloride) along with a lot of other chemicals in much lesser amounts (in this case the other minerals), then as the water evaporates away, the preponderant chemical will crystallize out in a relatively pure form, leaving all the others behind. It's a purification process that chemists use all the time. The crystallized salt (called solar salt) that is harvested by solar evaporation of ocean water is therefore about 99 percent pure sodium chloride right off the bat. The other 1 percent consists almost entirely of magnesium and calcium compounds. Virtually all of those other 75-or-so "precious mineral nutrients" are gone. To get that single grape's worth of iron, you'd have to eat about a quarter of a pound of solar salt!

Even beyond that, some brands of sea salt are the result of subjecting the solar salt to the same further purification steps as mined salt, reducing their mineral content effectively to zero.

Is "sea salt" sea salt?

Let's not forget that mined salt is also sea salt, because the underground salt deposits were left by ancient seas that dried up. It therefore has a very similar composition--minerals and all--to today's sea salt. And how about this little-known fact: Your "sea salt" might not even have been taken from the sea, because manufacturers don't have to specify their sources and according to industry insiders I have talked with, fibbing does occur. Two batches of salt may be taken from the same bin at the mine plant and one of them labeled for sale as "sea salt." Well, of course it is. It just crystallized a million
years earlier.

Many sea salt enthusiasts deceive themselves by thinking that there are only two kinds of salt: mined salt in the shaker and sea salt in the fancy packages. Not only may the "sea salt" have come from a mine, but on the West Coast the salt in the shaker is most likely to have come from the sea. The point is that a salt's characteristics depend much more on how the raw material has been processed than on where it came from. You can't just generalize. There are probably a dozen brands of genuine sea salt with crystals of a variety of sizes, shapes and degrees of purity. Some are straight solar salt, while some have been purified further.

The bottom line is that when a recipe specifies simply "sea salt" it is pure folly, and stems from a lack of knowledge, misguided political correctness or a thoughtless desire to climb onto a popular bandwagon. And you know what? It may make absolutely no difference anyway.

That was a teaser for my next column, in which I'll examine a few flavor fables. Do sea salts really make food taste better than mined salts? And if so, which ones are best? Don't go too far away.

The other two columns by Mr Wolke can be found at http://www.mytoos.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=182907" rel="nofollow">Sea Salt Shakedown - RG

And about salt grinders, in his third column, Salt, the Final Episode, Mr Wolke says this about salt grinders,

Pounding salt

I can't end my series of salty remarks without commenting on those classy salt mills and combination salt-and-pepper grinders that are sold in so-called gourmet shops. The idea seems to be that if freshly ground pepper is so much better than the powdered stuff in cans, then why not use freshly ground salt as well?

That's a (highly profitable) delusion. Unlike pepper, salt contains no volatile, aromatic oils to be released by grinding. Salt is solid sodium chloride through and through, so a small chunk is absolutely identical to a large chunk in everything but size. Other than its
novelty appeal, the only virtue of a salt grinder is that it deposits coarse little chunks, instead of tiny grains, on your food, and the burst of saltiness you get when you crunch them can be fun.

So go ahead and buy one if you wish, but don't believe the hype about "the superior flavor of freshly ground salt" printed on the cute little card that comes with it.

Hey Mr. Bob? It takes one to know one. Sauces are a bad reference since they can be made from different ingredients. And one person used water taste in different areas as an example. Excuse me but H2O is H2O. All you taste is the minerals and chemicals that it may contain. The professor is correct. NaCl is NaCl in it's pure form.

I found the conversion from Kosher to table salt but can you tell me what a conversion from Kosher to Sea salt would be. My husband bought sea salt and I would like to use it up. Thanks

Hi Carrie, not that much difference. According to Morton salt:
1-1/4 teaspoons of Kosher salt = 1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 tablespoon + 3/4 teaspoon Kosher = 1 tablespoon + 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Hope this helps, RG

Hi Travis,
Thank you for the additional information about salt. You must be a big fan of one of my favorite authors, Harold McGee. I appreciate your taking the time to explain the science behind salt to me and my readers.