2. There is no such thing as “Himalayan Sea Salt” because there is no Himalayan sea! While the salt was indeed evaporated from a sea some 600 million years ago, calling it a sea salt is pretty misleading. Himalayan salt is halite, the mineral form of salt found in the earth. If you want a sea salt, buy a sea salt. If you want a rock salt (sometimes called a mineral salt), buy a rock salt!

3. Himalayan salt is 100% natural, but 100% natural doesn’t tell the whole story. Heavy machinery is commonly used in some places where Himalayan salt is mined, just as it is with industrial sea salt. However, some smaller mines do employ manual methods only—again, just as do traditional sea salts. If natural and/or artisanal production methods are important to you, choose a Himalayan salt (such as ours) or an artisanal sea salt that is produced from mines that still use old-fashioned manual techniques.

4. Many believe Himalayan pink salt contains unique minerals that are not found in natural sea salt. While it’s true that Himalayan pink salt contains trace amounts of minerals like magnesium and potassium, these minerals are also found in natural sea salt. Himalayan salt contains about 3% trace minerals—which makes them about average among natural salts in terms of mineral content. While industrially made sea salts contain less than 1% trace minerals, naturally made sea salts contain anywhere from 3% to 16% or more trace minerals.

5. Some people believe that Himalayan salt has health benefits. It very well may, but determining any medicinal uses should always start (and hopefully finish) with advice of a doctor or similar health expert. That said, salt is credited in various health traditions with helping to regulate blood sugar levels and reducing inflammation. Himalayan pink salt is frequently indicated in Ayurvedia, the ancient system of medicine that originated in India emphasizing the use of natural remedies to promote health and well-being. According to Ayurvedic principles, rock salt (specifically, the one we know as Himalayan pink salt) is said to have a balancing effect on the body's doshas (energies). It is also believed to support healthy digestion, improve skin health, and promote a healthy pH balance in the body. Himalayan pink salt is often called for in Ayurvedic cooking as well as in Ayurvedic treatments such as salt scrubs and salt baths. Understanding specifically why Himalayan tock salt is beneficial, and how to realize these benefits, is outside the scope of my expertise, but it is important to note that Ayurvedia considers different kinds of salts to have different properties. So under no circumstances is Himalayan salt to be considered a cure-all.

2. Traditional uses of Himalayan pink salt include cooking heating a big block of salt in the fire and cooking right on the block. While I have written two books popularizing and expanding on this technique, including the first book ever written on the subject, salt block cooking was likely invented by the Pakistanis, Afghanis, and Indians who had early access to blocks of salt. Namak mandi is a traditional meat dish that is popular in the Salt Range where Himalayan salt is mined. Lamb or beef is seared on a super hot salt block, allowing the salt to infuse into the meat, brown it, and add flavor. The meat then served with naan bread, salad, and chutney.

3. There is more than one Himalayan pink salt, tapping deposits that formed at different places and times. The Khewra Salt Mine in the Punjab province is the largest salt mine in Pakistan and produces the majority of the Himalayan Pink Salt sold to export markets like the USA. The Warcha mine in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province produces a salt that is often darker in color than some other Himalayan salts. Some feel (I’m not so sure I pick up on it, personally) that salt from the Kalabagh mine over the fertile Indus river valley has milder taste compared to other mines. Color varies from white to pink to red to silver-grey and even, occasionally, blue. Purity (absence of rocky debris) varies greatly even within the same mine as great swirling marled formations are exposed within salt seams extending deep into the earth.

4. The Khewra Salt Mine in Pakistan produces 385,000 tons of salt per year, supporting the local economy as well providing a source of revenue from exports to other countries. While it is the largest of Pakistan’s mines by far, it delves into only a tiny fraction of a truly massive salt deposit running along much of the 186 mile Salt Range mountains from which it is mined. The deposit is as much as 1,600 feet deep in places, and miles in width. Estimates of the total reserves in Pakistan are all over the place, but are always going up.

5. Himalayan salt is not renewable, but nor it is not exhaustible. It will take millions of years for the salt you consume to re-evaporate into a salt flat, get buried under sediment, be thrust deep into the earth by plate tectonic forces, and compress to the pure pink halite you know and love as Himalayan Pink salt. But fear not, we won’t be running out of it anytime soon. There are 10.5 billion tons of salt deposits at the Bahadurkhel mine alone. At the current rate of 139,268 tons per year, it will last 75,394 years. And while our progenitures are waiting for more salt deposits to form, all of that mined salt will available along with 50 quintillion (50,000,000,000,000,000,000) kilograms of salt within our planet’s oceans.