Sea Salt May Be Better for Your Health

On Wednesday, the company Ocean's Flavor announced that the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has submitted a citizen petition resulting in a public hearing on November 29th regarding The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) policies regarding salt and sodium in food.

The petition requests that the FDA make changes to the regulatory status of salt, require limits on salt in processed foods, and require health messages related to salt and sodium.

"There's just a growing scientific consensus that current levels of salt in the diet are one of the biggest health threats to the public," Michael Jacobson of the CSPI.

Ocean's Flavor, which has been in business for four years, promotes naturally-occurring sea salt as a 57% lower-in-sodium alternative to the processed salts usually found on the dinner table or cooked into prepared foods.

"The Schwan Food Company is using Ocean's Flavor Sea Salt as one of a variety of technologies to enhance the healthfulness of its products," said Schwan's Research and Development Vice President, Bruce Paterson.

According to companies like Schwan as well as Ocean's Flavor, natural sea salt is not only significantly lower in sodium, it is richer in minerals such as magnesium and close to 80 others that the body needs and tastes even better than processed salts.

The need for this kind of alternative salt "has been further supported by newer and more defined sodium intake guidelines, as set forth by the American Heart Association, American Medical Association, and The Center for Science here in the states. Paralleling these new requirements are the new more stringent restrictions in the UK...Why use a fake chemically-produced salt substitute when you can use a natural environmentally-produced less sodium sea salt?" says Alan Fisher, Ocean's Flavor president.

While there is criticism of groups like the CSPI petitioning for more government intrusion in the freedom of choice for consumers and the free markets with their demand for processed salt and sodium limitations, the fact remains that Ocean's Flavor has seen its business sharply spike in the last two years as consumers become more health conscious and seek ways to lessen their intake of sodium while not having to give up flavor and not having to rely on potentially even more harmful synthetic sodium substitutes.

This writer has used sea salt whenever possible for a few years and I can attest that I find it much more flavorful than the processed sodium chloride product. If it is also healthier, then so much the better. Unrefined, naturally harvested sea salt comes in different colors such as gray, red, and white. Each type has a subtly distinct flavor.

However, some health experts including doctors at the Mayo Clinic have stated that refined table salt and sea salt do not differ in their nutritional value, only in their texture and taste.

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