Stiftung Warentest
Discounter salt for 29 cents gets top marks
© Olga Kriger / Adobe Stock
Good things don’t always have to be expensive – this also applies to what we probably all consume every day: salt. How good is the “white gold” and should iodine be added? Stiftung Warentest took a closer look at the products.
A total of 41 salts were put to the test. 27 of them received the grade “good”. 13 are “satisfactory” and one is only “sufficient”. This test proves that good does not necessarily have to be expensive. The test winners range from discounter to branded salt.
Discounter salt is test winner
Test winners and recommended by the experts for everyday cooking are the “Alpine iodized salt + fluoride and folic acid” from Bad Reichenhaller and the “Carat iodized salt with fluoride fine grain” from the discounter Netto. Both got an overall grade of 1.6. The net salt costs just 29 cents.
For fine cuisine or a small gourmet evening with friends, it can sometimes be a little more exquisite salt. Chefs love to use fleur de sel, a hand-scooped, tender, crispy salt. Among the salt stars, “Flor de Sal d’Es Trenc Natural” scored best with a grade of 1.7 from the island of Mallorca. Stiftung Warentest recommends it as a noble second salt for the home.
Iodine and fluoride are good ingredients for an everyday salt
The test included both iodized salts and those without. However, the verdict of the experts is clear: every everyday salt should contain some iodine. In Germany, people generally take in too little iodine. Fluoride as an additive is also useful. At least extra folic acid doesn’t hurt. If these additives were missing, the salts – with the exception of the nobler second salts – were devalued.
Some salts advertise that they are low in sodium. Such varieties can slightly lower blood pressure, the experts from Stiftung Warentest also confirm. However, a slightly bitter taste would be noticeable. Also with these products one should pay attention to added iodine. For the sake of the environment, many salts are packed in cardboard. The testers therefore found that some products smelled slightly of cardboard.
No pollutants but signs of microplastics found
Salt is obtained from nature in various ways. It is concentrated from seawater, mined from underground tunnels, or boiled from underground salt lakes. It is therefore possible that heavy metals such as lead, nickel or arsenic are included. All of the products examined were rated “good” or “very good” in terms of chemical quality.
In recent years, studies on microplastics in food have become more and more specific. The testers found tiny particles and fibers in some products that look like microplastics. According to the current state of knowledge, however, there is no reason for a health alarm.
Sources used: nordbayern.de, test.de