Whole wheat salt

Whole sea salt is obtained by evaporation of sea water, then subjected to a series of surface washing and purification treatments. Sea water, sun and wind are therefore the essential ingredients for the birth of a good integral sea salt.

The failure to use chemical refining methods allows the whole salt to preserve the natural heritage of trace elements intact. Compared to refined cooking salt, the integral product boasts lower concentrations of sodium chloride, while it contains not inconsiderable quantities of iodine, magnesium, potassium and other microelements. However, integral sea salt can in no way be compared to dietary salts, such as low salt or iodine-enriched salts; these products are in fact intended for the feeding of "special" categories of people, who need to take standardized quantities of one or more trace elements. For example, the iodine content of integral sea salt is normally lower than that of the iodized product, therefore insufficient to prevent iodic deficiencies (as specified in the brochure of the Higher Institute of Health, according to which the iodine content of integral sea salt is negligible). The composition of the product also varies considerably depending on the area of ​​extraction, so much so that there are various varieties of this "white gold" on the market, coming from all over the world and indicated for specific culinary preparations. Equally variable, therefore, is the flavor of these products, which often have harsh hues to which the palate is not normally used.

Most of the salt we find on the supermarket shelves has nothing to do with whole salt. Often it is salt of rock salt (extracted from underground mines deriving from the slow evaporation of ancient sea basins), very white and hyper-refined; compared to the marine one, at the beginning the salt of rock salt is richer in sodium chloride, because it contains less impurities. As anticipated, the sea salt is instead obtained in the salt pans from the evaporation of sea water.

The law prevents the marketing of sodium chloride obtained as a by-product of industrial processes.

Salt refining processes have the purpose of eliminating impurities, including those potentially dangerous for health (arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium and copper); for this purpose the salt is first reduced to brine, then treated with chemical substances, to precipitate the impurities, and finally dried. Additives with an anti-hygroscopic effect are also added to the refined salt, so as to avoid the absorption of moisture by the product, thus keeping the individual grains separate. The real integral sea salt, therefore, generally appears more humid and lumpy than the traditional one, since it is not added with anti-humidity substances.