18/11/09: Industrial salt sold as edible table salt

Police busted a factory in Jhongli City, Taiwan yesterday morning, for allegedly selling industrial salt as edible salt.

The investigation conducted jointly by the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office and the Department of Health revealed that the factory sold industrial salt as edible salt for at least the past three years.

Police search of several large-scale markets found that “Taiwan Natural Salt” has been removed from the shelves but discovered other suspicious salt products. The Jhongli City manufacturer of the questionable product ordered industrial salt from Taiwan Salt Company and redistributed them as edible salts, investigators said.

The factory also used the word “Taiwan”in its product name in an attempt to mislead the consumer for relating it to Taiwan salt, the largest salt company in Taiwan.

The factory reportedly made million of dollars in profit from selling the counterfeit salts.

Investigators have confiscated all the questionable products found in the factory and will order all such products to be taken off the shelves. Seized products will be tested to conclude whether it is industrial salt. The major differences between industrial salt and edible salt are the levels of heavy metal materials. Industrial salt can contain a much higher level of heavy metal materials that could possibly harm the immune and reproduction systems in humans, and might cause cancer. Pro-longed consumption of industrial salt might also cause problems with thyroid glands.

To avoid purchasing industrial salt marketed as edible salt, consumer can differentiate the two by color. Industrial salt appears yellowish because no iodine was added, whereas edible salt is always white in color.