Skip to content
17mar gourmet salt hero1
News
5 April 2017

Gourmet salt claims may mislead

Some claim higher levels of essential minerals.

High-priced rock and sea salts promoted as healthier choices risk misleading consumers about their benefits, our report has found.

Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin says gourmet salts can claim to contain higher levels of essential minerals such as iron and calcium. “But all salt products on shop shelves are essentially the same — nearly 100% sodium chloride,” she says.

We found 3 companies — Lotus Foods, Mrs Rogers, and The Healthy Salt Company — promoted some of their salts as containing iron, calcium or magnesium even though these minerals are only present in trace amounts.

“Food manufacturers are well aware shoppers want to buy healthy foods. Consumers may decide to buy a gourmet salt over a cheaper table variety after seeing these claims about mineral content. But they’ll be paying 5 to 50 times the price,” Ms Chetwin says.

The product claims may also tempt consumers to add extra salt to their food to try to up their iron, calcium or magnesium intake.

“But instead of getting any health benefit, they may be exceeding their daily salt limit and putting their health at risk. The adverse health effects of a high-salt diet are well-known,” she says.

We believe the claims also fall foul of the labelling rules in the Food Standards Code.

To claim a product is a source of a specific mineral, such as iron or calcium, it must provide 10% of the code’s adult recommended daily intake (RDI). Products promoted by Lotus Foods, Mrs Rogers and The Healthy Salt Company did not meet this requirement.

We’ve raised concerns about the product claims with the Ministry for Primary Industries, which enforces the code.

More information and the taste test video are available in our full report.

17mar gourmet salt promo

Read the full report

Five or even 50 times the price, “gourmet” rock and sea salts are often promoted as a nutritionally better choice than the basic variety. We’ve looked at the evidence.

Learn more

Why join consumer promo img

Why join Consumer?

We’re the only New Zealand non-profit to independently put the products and services you want to buy to the test. But most of what we do is funded by our members, for our members. Becoming a member means you’ll have even more ways to get a fair deal, and choose with confidence.

Learn more

Member comments

Get access to comment

Want to know more?