Originally Published: December 20, 2019
People ask me all the time what kind of salt I like to use.
Salt is a very personal decision — with microplastics, Lead, and other toxicants to consider. Here’re my considerations all laid out:
- We use overall very little salt, adding it sparingly or not at all, so that’s the most important consideration.
- However, even though we use very little salt, I would never use any Pink Himalayan Salt for my family — because it is so high in Lead. Usually, it tests the highest, or among the highest Lead-levels of all salts depending on which charts you look at, and which brands. Not to mention some other ostensibly “naturally-occurring” — yet highly-undesirable elements — in the subterranean salt mines where it is found (even traces of Uranium)!
- From an environmental-impact perspective (globally), it is also important to look at how the salt is extracted and how far it has to travel to get to your table. Evaporating salt from seawater seems more sustainable than land-based mining of salt (which = large expenditures of energy, lots of pollution/ water and soil contamination, hazardous mining, and mutilated lands).
- With these and other considerations in mind, we often choose small-batch-harvested, local sea salt, or salt from more pristine waters if at all possible.
- I like Jacobsen’s from Oregon (this is my affiliate link for their product), but I also love Icelandic Sea Salt. Both of these options are very expensive (as far as salt goes) but also very tasty. (If you don’t think of salt as “tasty,” you have to at least try one of these options once — the flavor is full and very distinct from your mom’s or grandma’s ol’ Morton* salt!)
- If we’re broke, and we run out of salt, we sometimes buy sea salt of European origin (I think it is either French or maybe Spanish — sorry not to have more info), that they have in larger packages (tall cardboard tubes) at Whole Foods and Trader Joes. I will update this post with a photo and more info for this as soon as I have it.
- We often also buy sea salt in bulk at our local organic co-op, People’s, here in Portland.
- *For economy, I do buy Morton’s — for making homemade Play-Doh!
Another salt I also avoid…
In addition to avoiding Pink Himalayan salt, I would also never buy any Redmond (“Real Salt®“) products — because, in my opinion, the company has consistently behaved unethically concerning the Lead content of their products over the course of the past several years (specifically as evidenced by their deceptive marketing and product design with their toothpaste products).
Wait, what? Why exactly do you avoid Redmond-brand products?
This consideration is not based on the quality of their salt per se, but only a ethical/political perspective based on the company’s track record as a whole. The company that owns Real Salt® also owns Earthpaste®, which is a product that is confirmed to have high levels of Lead, yet which they continue to market to parents — for use by children — with their “Silly Lemon” flavor recently renamed “Lemon Twist.” While the packaging now either implies or states that it “should not be used by children” (as it has unsafe levels of Lead!), the package still has a smiling lemon on it! You can read more about Earthpaste here, and you can see what I would argue is the deceptive packaging for their “Silly Lemon” product here (along with my proposed alterations to their packaging)! Note: they apparently recently changed the packaging to say “Lemon Twist,” but still with a smiling lemon it is obviously marketed for parents to think it is safe for children to use, in spite of the warning added on the back of the package that it “may not be appropriate for consumption by children and pregnant women.” You can see this new lemon product here.
Jacobsen Salt Affilate link, here.
Thank you for reading and for sharing my post.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions!
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
*Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking on one of my links I may receive a small percentage of what you spend at no extra cost to you.
Could you clarify in regards to the salt which you’re referring to from WF/TJs? Is it a specific type or do you suggest that any European sea salt is a good choice? Thanks!
What brand of Icelandic salt do you use?
What about Maldon?
I’m confused… does this mean sea salt doesn’t have lead but mined salts might?
I think – as a rule – mined salts tend to have much higher Lead levels than sea salts.
Thanks for commenting.
Tamara
I don’t use sea salt because of contamination from the oil, heavy metals, nuclear waste, industrial waste, human waste, decommissioned ships, fertilizers, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, plastics, and God knows what else that we’ve been dumping into the oceans for a hundred years. Every time I say this, invariably the answer is “Oh, the ocean is so huge, it’s all diluted and there’s not enough to affect you.” That’s what we used to say about our climate and biosphere. I haven’t seen data, but until someone convinces me otherwise I’ll continue buying plain white salt. It’s mined from salt deposits that are millions of years old, hence pristine.
Thank you for commenting Chris!
Tamara
Tamara, can you share the studies or sources about Himalayan salt being the highest in lead? I try avoiding sea salt mainly because when we talk about hymalayan salt being the highest in lead, then the other choices are not better in any way. Sea salt is not only high in radiation, mercury, plastic byproducts, pharmaceuticals, variety if different heavy metals, human waste etc.
I will be updating the post shortly with some links to relevant studies.
Sea salt is often coming in at 25 to 35 ppb Lead and the Himalayan salt can be in the thousands sometimes.
Tamara
Hello I was talking to someone about your article on salt. Can you state your sources please for the lead? They would like to look at the sources please,
Thank you!
Wendy
Hi Wendy,
Are you on Facebook? If you join my group “The Lead (Pb) Group” one of the women in the group is a researcher in the medical profession and she put together a summary of all of the different salts and their Lead levels and there are several links to studies there. I will be updating this post shortly as well and will give you a holler when I have done that.
Tamara
Hi Tamara,
I’m looking around in The Lead (Pb) Group on facebook but couldn’t find the summary of all the different salts and their lead levels. Could you please cite the link?
Thank you
Hi there!
I believe it is in the documents for the group. Let men now if you cannot find it there.
Tamara
Hi Tamara, I saw you use the mortons to make homemade play dough. Would you trust using it even if you have a child who is 2 years old and at times, eats the play dough?
What is your opinion on Green Toys play dough, since they use salt in there dough?
I don’t have concerns for accidental ingestion of salt in something like that. From an environmental perspective it is hard to support the sale of packaged play-doh given it is so easy and cheap (and so much fun!) to make. I only buy play doh every now and then so I have packaging to put my homemade stuff in.
Tamara
Hi, do you know anything about Celtic sea salt? That has been my brand of choice for a few years; I’m wondering how it stacks up against the others you mentioned.
https://www.bulletproof.com/diet/superfoods/is-pink-himalayan-salt-toxic/
I found the above article interesting, in contrast to your article. I, too, can get swept away and feel like toxins are over bearing our lives, and get overwhelmed in the matter (also a form of toxicity since I’m stressing out) but I’m happy to have people like the one that wrote the above article to bring me back to a better balance of looking at things like this topic. I just discovered your work today, & it’s important, & all good, but when I found this salt article. I got lost a little bit. We would die with our salt, & refined salt, or table salt, is way more toxic then sea salts. “Salt Your Way to Health” by Dr Brownstein, or his YouTube videos on the subject are worth while.
Hi Francine –
Which is why I recommend sea salts 🙂 [From the most pristine waters or the most reputable companies possible.]
Tamara
Hi Tamara,
Unfortunately I do not have a Facebook account and cannot access the study documents. Where else could I access the studies?
Thanks!
Hi Tamara,
Do you have any recommendations for any salt in Canada? Jacobsen is not easily available and shipping is just ridiculous.
Thanks.
Ruchi
Interesting article, Tamara! Have you tested Redmond’s Salt for lead?
Have you tested Redmond’s Salt or found peer reviewed studies that identify lead content in Redmond’s Salt? It is hugely popular in the Carnivore lifestyle and carries the backing of a well-known Carnivore movement author.
Hello! Where can I find the recommendations for the European salt you mentioned you would update it with? Thanks!
Do you not worry about radioactive contamination from Fukushima since we saw all kinds of radioactive trash arrive at the US West Coast after the tsunami?
What about micro plastics in sea salt? Saw that at least one sea salt company was filtering these micro plastics.
Here in Quebec (in Canada), the two salts that I have found in healthy food stores are sea salt Le Paludier, and the pink Hymalayan salt Lumière de Sel. I have seen on your website that the sea salt Le Paludier is one to avoid. But I have found no information on the Himalayan salt Lumière de Sel. The company is Ecoideas. I just wrote to them to ask them the amount of lead in their salt. I don’t know yet if they will answer me. I have not seen their product on your website. Maybe you do have information on that salt even if you did not mention it? Thank you for any information you have. If they answer me, I will share with you what they answer me.
The pink color is because of higher inorganic iron content.
Have you ever tested Windsor salt?
In Canada, it is a very common brand.
I use both the regular salt (sodium chloride), the half-salt (half potassium, half sodium), and the no-salt ( all potassium).
The reason for the potassium salt use is for our blood pressure.
In your opinion, would potassium salts be equally likely to have lead as sodium salts?
Would you also trust the other non Himalayan salts from Jacobsen salt co? I am interested in the infused salts and the spice mixes in particular. Thank you so much for your research!
I recently did a heavy metals provocation urine test and it showed elevated levels of lead, aluminum and a few others. I contacted Jacobson because we use their salt and asked them about the custom made pots they use in processing. They are made from stainless steel with an aluminum coating. They said the testing showed “ Aluminum – 1,960 ppb to a LOQ of 400ppb”.
Is this acceptable?
Thank you,
Kim