- salt is not same salt
- Salts tested: 15 iodized salts (partly with fluoride and folic acid)
- 14 salts without iodine
- Fleur de Sel and sodium reduced salt
- useful information about table salt
Salt was once as valuable as gold. And some actually earned a proverbial golden nose in the salt trade in the Middle Ages. The formerly valuable “white gold” has now become a cheap product. Today, almost two hundred million tons of table salt are produced or mined worldwide every year. However, most of it is not used for food, but in the chemical industry, for example for the production of laundry detergent. Stiftung Warentest however, took a closer look at 41 table salts and came to the following conclusions.
Salt is not just salt
The salt that ends up in the pasta water or on the salad is obtained in different ways: concentrated from seawater, mined underground from tunnels, or boiled from underground salt lakes. Salt is therefore not just salt: In the supermarket you have the choice between iodised table salt, sea salt and specialties such as Fleur de Sel or Himalayan salt.
Coarse fleur de sel (“Flower of Salt”) is considered the queen of salts and is currently making a steep career. The name comes from the following manufacturing process: water is dried in basins and a delicate flower of salt flakes first on the water surface, which is skimmed off with a ladle. In the test by Stiftung Warentest, seven of these products are particularly popular in professional kitchens and have their price.
In the Stiftung Warentest test, the testers analyzed the 41 salts for appearance, taste, smell and consistency (45 percent). Also standing impurities, possible pollutants and microplastics (25 percent) on the test list. The sea salts were also about salmonella – which could not be found. The levels of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfate, carbonate, fluoride and iodine were also analyzed. In the case of salts with a declared folic acid additive, the testers determined its content. the declarations (20 percent) and Ease of use of the packaging (10 percent) were also included in the test result.
15 iodized salts (some with fluoride and folic acid)
the iodized salts perform well in the test: All 15 are “good”, including the two test winners. With the quality rating “good (1.6)” cut that Bad Reichenhaller Alpine iodized salt with fluoride and folic acid and a salt of Discounters net best in the test. In terms of price, they are the cheapest salts: As a customer, you have to pay between 0.06 euros and 0.20 euros for 100 g, there is only one outlier of Rapunzel with 0.56 euros.
The test winners:
- Bad Reichenhaller: Alpine iodine salt + fluoride, Price per 100 g: approx. 0.17 euros, Test winner: good (1.6)
- Netto Marken-Discount: Carat iodized salt with fluoride fine-grained, Price per 100 g: approx. 0.06 euros, Test winner: “good (1.6)”
Bad Reichenhall Alps iodized salt + fluoride – see here directly
Other tested iodized salts are all “good”, but slightly worse than the two test winners:
- Aldi: Le Gusto Iodized table salt with added fluoride, Price per 100 g: approx. 0.06 euros
- Aquasale: fine sea salt with iodine, Price per 100 g: approx. 0.20 euros
- Bad Reichenhaller: AlpenJodSalz, Price per 100 g: approx. 0.14 euros
- Bad Reichenhaller: Alpine iodine salt + fluoride + folic acid, Price per 100 g: approx. 0.18 euros
- Edeka: Good & cheap iodized salt with fluoride, Price per 100 g: approx. 0.06 euros
- Kaufland: K-Classic iodized salt with fluoride, Price per 100 g: approx. 0.06 euros
- Kaufland: K-Classic iodized salt + fluoride + folic acid, Price per 100 g: approx. 0.12 euros
- Lidl: ChanteSel fine iodized salt + fluoride, Price per 100 g: approx. 0.06 euros
- Norma: Fine pinch of iodized salt with fluoride, Price per 100 g: approx. 0.06 euros
- Penny: iodised salt with fluoride, Price per 100 g: approx. 0.06 euros
- Rapunzel: sea salt with iodine-containing algae (organic), Price per 100 g: approx. 0.56 euros
- Rewe: Yes, iodized salt with fluoride, Price per 100 g: approx. 0.06 euros
- sel with iodine, Price per 100 g: approx. 0.19 euros
14 salts without iodine
the 14 salts without added iodine disappoint the testers from Stiftung Warentest: there are only ten “satisfactory” or “sufficient”. Many smell of cardboard, the testers note. However, when cooking, such odors mostly disappear. The prices vary greatly, ranging from 15 cents to 5.00 euros for 100 g of salt.
- Alnatura: sea salt (organic)
- Price per 100 g: approx. 0.18 euros
- Bad Reichenhaller: salt blossoms
- Price per 100 g: approx. 5.00 euros
- Bad Reichenhaller: Alps salt
- Price per 100 g: approx. 0.15 euros
- Byodo: premium sea salt, fine-grained
- Price per 100 g: approx. 0.30 euros
- Edeka: Good & cheap table salt, fine-grained
- Price per 100 g: approx. 0.05 euros
- Harvest Blessing: Primordial Salt
- Price per 100 g: approx. 0.55 euros
- Fuchs: Persian blue salt
- Price per 100 g: approx. 5.00 euros
- Gewürzmühle Brecht: Ur-rock salt
- Price per 100 g: approx. 0.80 euros
- La Baleine: Fine sea salt
- Price per 100 g: approx. 0.18 euros
- Nature Hurtig: Salt Range Himalayan Crystal Salt
- Price per 100 g: approx. 1.15 euros
- Naturata: Fine Atlantic Sea Salt
- Price per 100 g: approx. 0.26 euros
- Rewe: Fine World Pink Crystal Salt
- Price per 100 g: approx. EUR 1.00
- Saldoro: Ursalz fine grain, without iodine
- Price per 100 g: approx. 0.13 euros
- Sonnentor: Ayurvedic magic salt
- Price per 100 g: approx. 1.55 euros
Fleur de sel and sodium reduced salt
Natural Fleur de Sel from Flor de Sal has its price. Just Spices is the cheapest over the counter at 4.60 euros for 100 g. The salt from Ibiza costs 11.10 euros. In the foundation’s test, ‘Es Trenc Natural’ beats all the others with the overall grade of “good (1.7)”.
Gusto Mundial Flor de Sal d’es Trenc Natural – view directly here
- Flor de Sal d’Es Trenc: Natural
- Price per 100 g: approx. 5.55 euros, Test winner: “good (1.7)”
- Just Spices: Fleur de Sel
- Price per 100 g: approx. 4.60 euros
- Le Guérandais: Fleur de Sel de Guérande
- Price per 100 g: approx. 4.65 euros
- Le Saunier de Camargue: Fleur de Sel
- Price per 100 g: approx. 4.75 euros
- Lidl: Kania Fleur de Sel
- Price per 100 g: approx. 1.99 euros
- Naturata: Fleur de Sel
- Price per 100 g: approx. 6.95 euros
- Sal de Ibiza: Fleur de Sel
- Price per 100 g: approx. 11.10 euros
If you have to watch your blood pressure, you should use one of these four low-sodium table salts. In this small group with four salts, Kuhlmann’s pan salt is the group winner with the rating “good (2.5)”.
Pan salt from Kuhlmann – see here directly
- Pan salt: iodised table salt with potassium and magnesium
- Price per 100 g: approx. 2.20 euros, Test winner: “good (2.5)”
- Disal: Slightly salt iodized
- Price per 100 g: approx. 0.88 euros
- dr Jacob’s: Blood pressure salt rich in potassium
- Price per 100 g: approx. 1.68 euros
- Raab Vitalfood: blood pressure salt mineral salt mixture with potassium
- Price per 100 g: approx. 1.85 euros
Worth knowing about table salt
- which types of salt is there? Depending on the production method, there are three different types of salt. rock salt is a fossil relic: It was formed millions of years ago when large seas dried up and consists of 98 percent sodium chloride. Rock salt makes up about 70 percent of all table salt produced worldwide. It is always free of microplastics. Rock salt is used when you want it to be cheap and salty, for example in pasta water. sea-salt is obtained in artificial basins by evaporating seawater. Sea salt is a natural and sustainably sourced product per se. The most expensive sea salt is Fleur de Sel. As more and more plastic is floating in the oceans, this salt can also contain microplastics. According to the Federal Office for Risk Assessment, however, there is no health risk for humans. vacuum salt is also an evaporation product: Salt-rich mineral water is boiled until only salt is left. This is very pure and consists almost entirely of sodium chloride. When it comes to salt from Germany, evaporated salt is the most well-known of the types of salt. An example is the famous Bad Reichenhaller.
- Why should table salt contain iodine? According to Ministry of Agriculture about a third of adults in Germany are poorly supplied with iodine. It is an important trace element, especially for the thyroid gland. She needs iodine to produce hormones. It is therefore advisable to use iodized salt.
- What is “blood pressure salt”? Sodium-reduced salts are considered “blood pressure salts”: If you have high blood pressure, you should generally eat in a health-conscious manner. This may include reducing sodium in foods. The sodium from conventional table salt is often replaced by potassium chloride: According to the Stiftung Warentest, potassium lowers blood pressure unlike sodium.
- How much salt does an adult human need per day? the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends adults consume less than five grams of salt per day, which is about a teaspoon. The one from the German Society for Nutrition the maximum recommended amount of salt is six grams. An increased salt intake can promote risk factors such as high blood pressure and cause corresponding cardiovascular diseases.
Conclusion
The Stiftung Warentest comes to the total pleasing results, even if the grade “very good” is not called. After all, 27 of the 41 salts examined in the test are recommended without restrictions. The result shows that cheap salt is convincing and offers additional nutrients with iodine and folic acid. Tip: The favorite for a special taste experience is a coarse fleur de sel.
