Comments on: The Assault on Salt

By: WilliamB

WilliamB — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:14:54 +0000

Ricki – that link isn’t working for me. Would you be so kind as to try again? I’ve had good luck with tinyurl.com, or I can cut and paste the full url. Tks.

By: Ricki Linnenkohl

Ricki Linnenkohl — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:31:33 +0000

WilliamB, this is where I have read information on table salt vs. sea salt http://tiny.cc/G7oH7

By: WilliamB

WilliamB — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:53:55 +0000

Ricki – I’m not sure where you get your data but it’s not completely correct. Common salt (such as Morton’s) is not a chemical byproduct. The most popular salt sold in the US is Morton’s and their salt is made via evaporation. On the Caribbean island of Bonaire, seawater is poured into very shallow ponds and allowed to evaporate. Once or twice a year the salt is scraped up, then treated to remove impurities (this is where the chemical processing happens, but as Morton’s is 99.99% NaCl, it’s easy to see that it is not “heavily chemically treated”), sometimes iodine is added, then it’s packaged and sold. You’ll notice that the “impurities” that are removed are the things in seasalt.

Salt *is* a chemical: sodium chloride, NaCl. As with anything, what makes it dangerous is how much one ingests. Since salt is added to so many products without our even realizing, we get a lot more sodium than we realize. (For example, did you know that most cottage cheeses have more sodium per serving than most potato chips? If you do it by calorie than cottage cheese has a lot more sodium than chips.) All salts, be they common, sea, kosher, fancy, are mostly NaCl and therefore contain the thing we’re worried about: sodium.

I’d be interested to read the references you’re drawing on, to see what they have to say.

By: Ricki Linnenkohl

Ricki Linnenkohl — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:23:26 +0000

Another example of the insane and ignorant government intrusion into our private lives. Because, not all salt is created equal. Regular salt, which is a chemical by product and is heavily chemically treated, is poison. Sea salt which provides necessary trace minerals, is extremely beneficial. As with many other government regulations, the research has not been done, and there is no logic to this legislation.

By: Danny P

Danny P — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:35:58 +0000

If you want a ban, take salt off the table. Chefs add salt to compliment the meal, patrons pile on the extra salt that is unwarranted.

By: WilliamB

WilliamB — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 01:24:18 +0000

I’m disappointed by the preponderance of unpleasant and negative responses here. I enjoy the information in this blog and have enjoyed the comments posted by my fellow readers.

Until now.

Shame on you for lowering the tone of this excellent blog with rude comments that haven’t even the benefit of being clever.

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:20:26 +0000

Next thing you know a politician will seek to ban / tax the air we breathe. Oh wait, that’s right someone already has – it’s called Cap & Trade!

By: Lisa S.

Lisa S. — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:58:55 +0000

So, if I understand, Mr. Ortiz’s father was stupid or ignorant and unwilling to live with moderation. Now everyone in NY should suffer? Is that the way he feels?
Duh?

By: Tinky

Tinky — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:41:43 +0000

I couldn’t agree more with Pederson. The clarification helps–but honestly I sometimes wonder whether politicians don’t need more to do…….