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Q. Do you know anything about the various fancy salts? I've heard that they deliver salty flavor but have a smaller dose of harmful sodium.
A. All of the gourmet salts I've seen have virtually the same amount of sodium as regular table salt, but a far greater price tag. I recently participated in a blind taste testing and couldn't detect much difference. But some say there is, and I wouldn't want to dispute that.
Regular table salt does have additives that some people believe give it an off taste. Calcium silicate is often used to keep it from clumping up. Potassium iodide is added to "iodize" salt, and dextrose (sugar) helps stabilize the potassium iodide and hide its bitter aftertaste. Iodizing salt has been a public health strategy for decades. Iodine deficiency causes thyroid problems and, in developing fetuses and young children, mental retardation. It's now rare in this country, partly because of iodized salt, but is still a problem in developing countries.
Many of the gourmet salts have small amounts of magnesium, calcium, and other "natural" minerals that affect the color and perhaps the taste. But the amounts are usually far too small to be of any nutritional significance. The real attraction of gourmet salt may be the coarser grind or, in some cases, the flaky shape. Either way, many cooks prefer these fancy varieties to table salt for seasoning meat or fish because they create a nice, crunchy outer layer. Kosher salt, which is also coarse, is used in the same way and is much less expensive than gourmet brands.
Salt is a combination of sodium and chloride, but it's the sodium that's the problem. Americans consume far too much of it, and that excess causes high blood pressure, which in turn leads to strokes, and other forms of cardiovascular disease. The major source of sodium in the American diet is processed foods and snacks, not the seasoning of homemade meals. Still, every little bit of reduction helps. It may just be the power of suggestion -- and the power of the sky-high price. But if people believe they use less salt when they use a gourmet variety -- and they really do so -- that would be a plus.--- Walter Willett, M.D., Dr. P.H., Harvard School of Public Health
