Salt is one of the most common additives to food and is also present in a large variety of skincare, oral care, cosmetics and even household cleaning products.

Salt is harvested using a few different methods. The most common method used for harvesting salt is hydraulic mining. Water is pumped into the earth where veins of salt are located and dissolved. The brine is then pumped back up and the water allowed to evaporate, leaving behind salt crystals. Other methods of salt mining involve digging shafts and tunnels into the ground where the salt rocks are then gathered. This is the method by which Himalayan Pink Salt is harvested. The last method involved simply dehydrating sea water or collecting it directly from salt pans.

If you are looking to avoid salt in foods to curb excess sodium intake, avoid these ingredients as well: monosodium glutamate (MSG), disodium phosphate, sodium bicarbonate (a.k.a. ‘bicarb’, ‘baking soda’), and brine.

Hydraulic mining of salt (brine mining) represents a large environmental hazard. “The drilling and transport of brine solutions can disrupt existing ecosystems and well casings, pipelines, and storage tanks are subject to corrosion due to the high salinity content of the solutions that they are exposed to, which can lead to leaks and contamination of adjacent bodies of water”(1).

Industrial grade salt (lower than 97% sodium chloride purity level) is used in colder regions of the world to de-ice roads.