Food safety is currently a very highly debated issue. In the US, we know often that the USDA and FDA are agencies that will align with manufacturers to promote sales of their products rather than support health of citizens.

Therapeutic use of salt in the US is governed by the FDA, and this applies to natural salt as well. I came across this a few years ago when I was working on a relationship with the Hungarian manufacturer of salpipa (salt pipe), a good alternative for people with Albuterol or other inhalers for respiratory health concerns.

In order to market the salt pipe in the US it must be FDA approved. Many know this is a long and tedious process.

In the UK the equivalent agency is the Food Standards agency. In Germany, and often the European Union, foods and ingredients are defined and governed by Codex Alimentarius.

Codex lists its allowable limits of heavy metals in salt as shown in the chart below, provided to me by PFPC (Parents of Fluoride Poisoned Children)  

(d) Contaminants:

Maximum permitted level

Arsenic

0.5 mg/kg

Copper

2 mg/kg

Lead

2 mg/kg

Cadmium

0.5 mg/kg

Mercury

0.1 mg/kg

Widely marketed, seemingly as an MLM operation, 'Original Himalayan Crystal Salt Elements' lists only the following data on their sites:

100% Pure - Contains 84 "natural" elements needed by the body: hydrogen, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluoride, sodium, magnesium, aluminum, silicum, phosphorus, sulfur, chloride, calcium, scandium, titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, gallium, germanium, arsenic, selenium, bromine, rubidium, strontium, yttrium, zirconium, niobium, molybdenum, ruthenium, rhodium palladium, silver, cadmium, indium, tin, antimony, tellurium, iodine, cesium, barium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium, hafnium, tantalum, tungsten, rhenium, osmium, iridium, platinum, gold, mercury, thallium, lead, bismuth, polonium, astatine, francium, radium, actinium, thorium, protactinium, uranium, neptunium and plutonium.

They do not, however, provide a chemical analysis report for their product.   

I underlined a few elements known to be toxic from my studies of chemistry and some radioactive elements to make a point. My point is as well, that I do not believe these (and several non-underlined) elements are "needed by the body".

My review of another supplier of Himalayan salt does provide a chemical analysis for the toxic heavy metals and fluoride.

In this product, I found 192 PPM (parts per million) of fluoride.

In a third product, I found 16 PPM of fluoride.

I am waiting to receive a fourth report from a salt importing company in the NW but it is coming by mail and may take a few days to arrive.

Remember, however, fluoride exposure is *cumulative*. We are exposed to great amounts of this highly toxic element in food, prescription drugs, municipal water supplies, war materials and industrial air pollution..

Needless to say, while I am staunchly in favor of the right to choose, and the use of natural salt for health, I can say clearly that informed consent is an important part of the process.

In this case it does not appear that buyers are provided with all the information necessary to make a sound and informed choice for their health.

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