Lab grown vs natural diamonds

[GON]

Yes .. and no. While the salt itself can be considered the same, it's the impurities contained in the crystals which add color and flavor, and the rarity of some salt, that drives the price of the specialized or "boutique" salts. By rarity I mean that some salt is found only in limited or specific locations, quick off-the-top-of-my-head examples would be Himalayan pink salt, French Grey Sea Salt (Sel Gris de Guérande), or Hawaiin salt which has lower levels of sodium chloride and up to about 15% of other minerals.

While the salt in some ancient mines is the same, or very similar to, sea salt, that is not the case with all ancient mines. The Khewra mine in Pakistan produces a decidedly different salt, the renowned pink Khewra salt. There are quite a few ancient mines around the world and they don't all produce a clone of Atlantic Ocean sea salt.

Just a FYI, numerous reports identify China as counterfeiting Pakistan pink Khewra salt, and much if the Khewra labeled salt being sold today in the US is counterfeit and not if Pakistani origin.

 

[kschachn]

Yes .. and no. While the salt itself can be considered the same, it's the impurities contained in the crystals which add color and flavor, and the rarity of some salt, that drives the price of the specialized or "boutique" salts. By rarity I mean that some salt is found only in limited or specific locations, quick off-the-top-of-my-head examples would be Himalayan pink salt, French Grey Sea Salt (Sel Gris de Guérande), or Hawaiin salt which has lower levels of sodium chloride and up to about 15% of other minerals.

While the salt in some ancient mines is the same, or very similar to, sea salt, that is not the case with all ancient mines. The Khewra mine in Pakistan produces a decidedly different salt, the renowned pink Khewra salt. There are quite a few ancient mines around the world and they don't all produce a clone of Atlantic Ocean sea salt.

Yes and those impurities bother me. You typically color crystals with transition metal ions and I’d really rather leave those out of my food.

A good example of how “natural” may not be healthy.

 

[Shel_B]

Yes and those impurities bother me. You typically color crystals with transition metal ions and I’d really rather leave those out of my food.

A good example of how “natural” may not be healthy.

Buy what you like, eat what you like, believe what you will, and be happy.

 

[kschachn]

Buy what you like, eat what you like, believe what you will, and be happy.

There you go.

 

[Kestas]

I've analyzed botique salt for the elements using Energy dispersive spectroscopy. Apart from anticaking agents, they are still 99+% sodium and cloride. Whatever other trace elements are there are extremely small and could overwhelmingly be supplied by regular foods or vitamins.

 

[kschachn]

I've analyzed botique salt for the elements using Energy dispersive spectroscopy. Apart from anticaking agents, they are still 99+% sodium and cloride. Whatever other trace elements are there are extremely small and could overwhelmingly be supplied by regular foods or vitamins.

To me it would depend on the particular salt, but even so I’m a bit wary of consuming colored substances like that. I suppose it comes from working in laboratories where some of the more brightly colored compounds are the more highly toxic ones.

Thanks for the information though.