A while back a friend and I were having a healthy argument about salt and sea salt. My friend is the nutritionally versed but not neurotic type of person. He believes that there is a lot of hype out there and people are getting duped into spending more money on products because they are “Natural”. I do not disagree with this. The term natural is not regulated and can is now being put on just about every product. I even saw an “All Natural” raw chicken breast at the grocery store that was clearly a cage raised bird dripping with hormones and antibiotics, but because they did not add any synthetic chemicals to it, it was “All Natural”. Long store short… when my friend made fun of me for using sea salt vs. iodized table salt we got into it. He insisted there was no difference in the two and was even able to pull up a website that even stated there was no difference.
I knew there was a difference in the two because we use it in our raw dog food formulas and since dogs have no need for salt, it had to be in there for a nutritional reason. At the time of the argument I was in the middle of cooking dinner and did not have the means or time to argue any further so I dropped it and quickly forgot about it until recently when I was at the store buying more salt and saw the sea salt right next to the table salt. Like a flood the memory the argument came rushing back along with the answer…
Table salt is mined and processed to give it its fine texture and bright white color. Sea salt is created through evaporation of salt water or salt deposits. It contains more minerals then table salt and helps balance electrolytes. It is also important to know that its not what is in sea salt that makes it better; its what is not in it. Under US law, up to 2% of salt can have additives. These are ingredients listed on the box and are usually for anti-clumping or whitening.
There is a minimal amount of sea salt in our raw dog food formulas and we use it for the minerals it provides.
Our partner in our fermented dog treats, Protein Bites, is GussysGut.com. They use ancient sea salt in their blend with us. They realize the health benefits and micronutrients it contains.
