Plenty of the salt sitting in British kitchen cupboards isn't just salt. Check the ingredients list on a standard table salt and you may find added ingredients too — usually an anti-caking agent, and in iodised salt, added iodine. The bag says "salt." The ingredients list tells you the rest.
What's Actually in Your Table Salt?
Standard table salt is usually refined, and many brands add an anti-caking agent to keep it free-flowing. Depending on the product, the ingredients list may include additives such as sodium aluminosilicate or silicon dioxide, and iodised salt contains added iodine, for example as potassium iodide. These are permitted food additives, considered safe at the levels used by food standards agencies. The point isn't that they're dangerous — it's that you should be able to see what's in your salt.
Refining removes most of the other elements that occur naturally in unrefined salt, and anti-caking agents are often added to stop refined salt clumping. It's not complicated — it's just not on the front of the pack.
The difference worth looking for starts with the ingredients list.
What Pink Himalayan Salt Actually Is
Our pink Himalayan salt is mined at Kalabagh, Pakistan, within Pakistan's Punjab Salt Range. It hasn't been refined. It hasn't been bleached. Alongside sodium chloride, pink Himalayan salt contains small, naturally occurring amounts of other elements — such as magnesium, potassium, calcium and iron — which vary from sample to sample.
No anti-caking agents. No aluminium compounds. No whitening process.
We have not currently published a laboratory report for our edible Pink Himalayan Salt. Our published TTI reports cover bath products and should not be used as evidence for edible salt.
The Mineral Difference
Table salt and pink Himalayan salt are both mostly sodium chloride. Pink Himalayan salt also carries small amounts of naturally occurring trace elements.
The mineral content in pink Himalayan salt is small — this isn't a supplement, and we're not going to pretend otherwise. At normal salt intakes, those trace elements don't make a meaningful nutritional difference, and the NHS advises adults to have no more than 6g of salt a day from all sources. We've set out the research in Is Himalayan Pink Salt Pure?
What To Look For
Not all pink Himalayan salt is sold with the same information. Look for:
Independent laboratory testing — with a published report for that specific product, not internal testing by the brand itself
Clear packaging information — what the container is made of and how to dispose of it
No additives listed on the ingredients — pure salt should list one ingredient: salt
Clear sourcing — a named source, region and country, not vague provenance language
The Rites of Salt pink Himalayan salt is available in 450g and 900g sizes. If you've been eating supermarket salt your whole life, this is the switch worth making.
Shop Pink Himalayan Salt 450g | Shop Pink Himalayan Salt 900g
