TABLE SALT SUPPLIES

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28532, 11 March 1958, Page 16

TABLE SALT SUPPLIES

Mr Innes Replies To Mr Skellerup

The production of iodised salt in New Zealand to meet the required Health Department specifications would be fraught with difficulties, said Mr W. A Innes, chairman of a group of United Kingdom salt companies, when commenting on the suggested manufacture of iodised salt in New Zealand from solar salt produced at Lake Grassmere. Mr P. J. Skellerup, managing director of Dominion Salt, Ltd., has said that if import restrictions caused a shortage of iodised salt in New Zealand, then the product could readily be manufactured locally. New Zealand solar salt was of high purity and contained trace elements which the imported table salts lacked. “To make a perfect and consistent iodised salt, which would meet the requirements and specifications of the Ministry of Health in any country threatened with goitre, it is necessary, first of all, to make quite sure that all impurities are removed,” said Mr Innes. Solar salt would have to be redissolved in fresh water and then passed into settling tanks to remove the solid impurities present in sea salt. The soluble impurities would then have to be taken out of the brine by a chemical purification process, requiring expensive plant and technicians. “Sea water comes from the sea, the home of sea birds and fish and, depending on the circumstances, the incidence of bacteria cannot be ignored,” he said. “Not Pure Salt” “Although I have visited solar salt factories in many parts of the world, and particularly in Australia, I do not feel qualified to accept the suggestion that Lake Grassmere salt compares favourably with other solar salt. What I do know is that solar salt is not pure salt. Mr Skellerup states that his salt contains many trace elements lacking in imported salt. This is not surprising when one considers that all impurities are deliberately removed from imported salt. Whether his contention that the trace elements make his salt most acceptable to the public must be open to question unless he discloses the trace elements and their purpose,” said Mr Innes.

“When the public buys salt, surely it is entitled to expect perfect salt, scientifically treated, whether it is plain salt or iodised salt prepared under Ministry specification. “If the diet of the public demands Mr Skellerup’s trace elements whatever their origin, then they should be approved by competent medical advisers,” Mr Innes said. “After all, salt, even the most perfect salt, is the cheapest essential food in the world. The best imported salt costs a family of four less than three farthings a day—a small price to pay for good health in a country where the incidence of goitre must always command attention,” Mr Innes said.