The Lonesome Road

My friend and I were cooking dinner today (yes, I do cook - so there) and we had to get a new can of salt.

Now, I have this thing about reading ingredients from cans. And this one boldly proclaimed itself as REAL SALT - with Iodine. I was intrigued. Iodized salt is something I am familiar with - Real Iodized salt was something new.

So, I turned the can around to see if they provided any more information. That brought me to the second piece of information : Real Salt - with 33% less Sodium. Now, I am a poor computer engineer and have not actively been reading chemistry books for the last 5 years. But some things do stick in ones mind. One of them is that common salt is made of Sodium and Chlorine. Na+ and Cl- in an electrolytic bond form NaCl i.e common, table salt.

Now, if these guys have 33% less Sodium in their “salt”, it logically (to me) suggests that there is an imbalance in the sodium/chlorine ratio. i.e it’s more like salt with free chlorine. I know that excess sodium is bad for health - but I don’t think swapping it for chlorine is a better option.

I decided to see if they provided an explanation that did not involve the presence of excess chlorine. According to their box : “unique flake shaped crystals are larger, yet lighter than cube shaped granules which help you consume less sodium with every use.”

Again, I have no concept of crytal shapes affecting the chemical composition of a molecule, but I don’t think that flakes of salt with have any less sodium than cube chaped granules. But then, that’s me.

Personally, I long for the iodized salty salt of home.

Salt ho!
[PS : Please, please do not take this article seriously. Oh - you didn’t. All right - I’ll go now.]