Eating lake salt is safer? Experts responded that sea salt has been contaminated and online sales of products have gone crazy | table salt | sea salt

Is sea salt contaminated? It is recommended to eat inland lake salt or well salt?

Recently, in many online live streaming rooms, hosts have been aggressively promoting lake salt or well salt, claiming that these products are safer and advising consumers to store them by box. Is lake salt or well salt really safer?

Analysts have pointed out that with the release of Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the sea, it will indeed have a certain negative impact on the food safety of sea salt. However, the purity and safety of lake salt or well salt cannot be solely determined by the opinions of merchants, but should be based on national or industry standards.

The rise of live streaming platforms for selling lake salt, well salt, and salt

Recently, there have been many live streaming rooms selling lake salt and well salt on short video platforms. Jimu News reporters have found that the majority of lake salt production comes from Qinghai Chaka Salt Lake or Qinghai Lake, while the majority of well salt production comes from Zigong, Sichuan.

Many live streaming rooms have started selling lake salt or well salt

Although the brands sold are different, without exception, anchors promote sea salt or contamination. It is recommended that netizens stock up on lake salt or well salt, preferably purchased in boxes.

In the purchase link of a certain live broadcast room, a box of lake salt is 60 bags, priced at 299 yuan, and the unit price of lake salt is about 4.98 yuan. Excluding additional functions such as low sodium and no iodine, the unit price of ordinary sea salt ranges from 1 yuan to 2 yuan. This means that the selling price of lake salt is about two to three times that of sea salt.

On July 23rd, Jimu News reporters visited several large supermarkets in Wuhan and found that lake salt and well salt were mostly sold in live broadcast rooms or e-commerce platforms, while most offline supermarkets did not list such products.

Li Yuantao, General Manager of Zhongshang Xudong Parity Plaza, introduced that there are more than 20 single items such as sea salt and rock salt in the supermarket, but lake salt and well salt are not listed. At present, the sales situation of sea salt is relatively stable, with no abnormal consumer reactions.

Consumers are skeptical about new salt products

After discovering lake salt and well salt in multiple live streaming rooms, citizen Xiaoxia had an impulse to place an order. However, looking at the unit price of nearly 5 yuan, she hesitated a bit and said, "The price is not cheap, I don't know if it's really necessary to exchange sea salt for lake salt." Finally, Xiaoxia purchased 4 packages of tasting packages.

Some consumers believe that even if they buy lake salt, they can only eat it for a while and cannot eat it for a lifetime. The circulation system of seawater may affect inland areas through rainwater, and lake salt cannot guarantee absolute safety and purity.

Many netizens in the live broadcast room commented that if you really follow the anchor's suggestion to buy a box of salt, I don't know if you will eat it for a long time and if it will exceed its shelf life.

The concerns of netizens are not unreasonable. According to the 2016 Chinese Dietary Guidelines for Residents, most residents in China currently consume too much salt, cooking oil, and fat. Therefore, it is necessary to cultivate a light dietary habit, and adults should not exceed 6 grams of salt per day.

According to this standard, if salt intake is strictly controlled, a bag of 250 grams of salt can be consumed for approximately 41 days. Even for consumers with heavy tastes, it takes about 35 days to eat a bag of salt. This means that a box of salt takes about 6 years to consume, while the shelf life printed on the packaging of lake salt is 5 years. The customer service representative explained that in reality, salt does not have a shelf life and can be stored as long as it is not opened.

Whether lake salt is safe should be based on national standards

Zhu Danpeng, Vice President of Guangdong Food Safety Promotion Association and China Food Industry Analyst, analyzed that as Japan's Fukushima nuclear wastewater is released into the ocean, it will indeed have a certain impact on the food safety of sea salt. This is also one of the reasons why countries around the world have been opposed to Japan's nuclear wastewater being released into the sea.

Zhu Danpeng believes that the rise of marketing for lake salt and well salt also indicates the diversification of China's salt industry. The richness of salt varieties will bring consumers more diverse choices, which is in line with the needs of economic and social consumption upgrading. It has a certain positive significance for both the market and consumers.

But he also pointed out that the pricing of lake salt is high and it is difficult to fully cover all consumer groups. In addition, the purity and safety of lake salt or well salt should not be based on the promotional rhetoric of merchants, but should be based on national and industry standards. As the sales of lake salt or well salt increase, the country should quickly come up with relevant standards for such products, so that law enforcement agencies have evidence to follow and consumers can shop with more peace of mind.