# Is salt(\*NaCl) a spice? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 10, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-salt-nacl-a-spice/325641 "2005-10-10T22:25:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OliverTwistofLime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b487fb/32.png) [@OliverTwistofLime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OliverTwistofLime)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-salt-nacl-a-spice/325641/1 "2005-10-10T22:25:03Z")
A spice is of vegetable origin used as a seasoning. Salt is a seasoning when its on the dining table. Now before you all say who gives a shit?..would any of you tell me if salt in general usage is called a spice? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-salt-nacl-a-spice/325641/2 "2005-10-10T22:29:55Z")
No. It is a seasoning and a preservative, not a spice. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-salt-nacl-a-spice/325641/3 "2005-10-10T22:32:37Z")
> [@OliverTwistofLime](#): > > A spice is of vegetable origin used as a seasoning. Salt is a seasoning when its on the dining table. > > Now before you all say who gives a shit?..would any of you tell me if salt in general usage is called a spice? My dictionary also cites: Something that gives zest or relish. So, while salt is not a spice in the sense that it is derived from vegetable origin, it is a spice nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-salt-nacl-a-spice/325641/5 "2005-10-10T22:56:00Z")
I would call salt THE spice. ---
**Author:** ![OliverTwistofLime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b487fb/32.png) [@OliverTwistofLime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OliverTwistofLime)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-salt-nacl-a-spice/325641/6 "2005-10-11T00:10:44Z")
> [@Pretzel](#): > > Always wondered the same thing about sugar? Even though little girls are made of sugar and spice…I would think sugar whose source is of vegetable origin, cane or beets, certainly adds zest and/or seasoning. So I think it would be a spice…and little girls are just made from spice?? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-salt-nacl-a-spice/325641/7 "2005-10-11T00:32:40Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > I would call salt THE spice. No, no…that’s melange… ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-salt-nacl-a-spice/325641/8 "2005-10-11T00:58:03Z")
I’m pretty sure Col. Sanders considered it one of his “11 herbs and spices.” Maybe three or four. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-salt-nacl-a-spice/325641/9 "2005-10-11T01:01:17Z")
Regarding the origin of the product name “Spam”: It’s a combination name of “Spice” and “Ham.” The spice? NaCl. So Hormel thinks it’s a spice. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-salt-nacl-a-spice/325641/10 "2005-10-11T01:35:34Z")
I say no. A spice is a flavoring agent (for lack of a better term) derived from _plant_ roots, seeds, fruits, or anything else that is not leaves. If it is from a leaf, then it’s an herb. Salt is a rock, therefore not a spice, but a seasoning. Sometimes black pepper gets lumped in as a seasoning as well, since adding pepper is often added with salt in a seperate process from adding the spices, and because it sits with salt as the two seasonings on the table. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-salt-nacl-a-spice/325641/11 "2005-10-11T02:15:55Z")
In common parlance, at least, it’s a spice - no one can say that English is logical. While it doesn’t address the OP directly, it just seems like we ought to add a link to [the Master’s Words](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_051.html). Er, by implication, Uncle Cecil agrees that it’s a spice. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-salt-nacl-a-spice/325641/12 "2005-10-11T02:46:11Z")
> [@Civil Guy](#): > > In common parlance, at least, it’s a spice - no one can say that English is logical. > > While it doesn’t address the OP directly, it just seems like we ought to add a link to [the Master’s Words](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_051.html). Er, by implication, Uncle Cecil agrees that it’s a spice. You must have missed this parenthetical remark in paragraph 3: > [@Cecil Adams](#): > > (Salt, strictly speaking, is not a spice.) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-salt-nacl-a-spice/325641/13 "2005-10-11T04:26:16Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Regarding the origin of the product name “Spam”: It’s a combination name of “Spice” and “Ham.” The spice? NaCl. > > So Hormel thinks it’s a spice. > [@Civil Guy](#): > > In common parlance, at least, it’s a spice - no one can say that English is logical. > > While it doesn’t address the OP directly, it just seems like we ought to add a link to [the Master’s Words](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_051.html). Er, by implication, Uncle Cecil agrees that it’s a spice. Your link to the Perfect Master is of course valuable evidence. But in view of **ftg** ’s post, I’d expected the column to be [the one on Spam](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_229.html). To wit: > [@Cecil Adams](#): > > It should be recognized that Hormel is in Austin, Minnesota, so these are Minnesota spices: sugar and salt. It is, of course, obvious that **Cecil** cannot contradict himself; that is a tenet of Cecilianism. But one hopes that he would deign to clarify the apparent paradox in his two responses regarding the putative spiceness of salt. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-salt-nacl-a-spice/325641/14 "2005-10-11T04:40:20Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > No, no…that’s melange… The Spice is the Worm and the Worm is the Spice!