A small study from East China Normal University found that of the 15 commercially available salts they tested, all of them contained microplastics. Microplastics are exactly what the name implies: microscopic flecks of plastic. That you eat. Gross. But, as they determined, not all salts were created equal.
The microplastics content was
- 550–681 particles/kg in sea salts,
- 43–364 particles/kg in lake salts
- 7–204 particles/kg in rock/well salts.
Is this something to freak out about? Probably not. We have long since known that the quality of some Chinese products aren’t up to American standards.
Regardless, you shouldn’t be adding salt to your diet. While it has been known to make everything from salads to ice cream taste better, there is so much salt in the average American diet any way, you shouldn’t even have it in your home. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, 100,000 American deaths per year could be avoided if we reduced our salt consumption in half.
In fact, Uruguay, recently banned salt from the table to further encourage consumers to steer clear of sodium chloride.
