# Is there really any difference between "sea salt" and "regular salt"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-any-difference-between-sea-salt-and-regular-salt/602075 "2011-11-06T17:52:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-any-difference-between-sea-salt-and-regular-salt/602075/41 "2011-11-09T16:49:59Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > Wendy’s started using sea salt on their fries a few months ago and I can DEFINITELY taste a difference and I’d say I have far from what constitutes a refined palette. > > (I once got in a huge imbroglio here for claiming tonic water was sweet when 500 more people chimed in to insist it was bitter. I SWEAR it tastes like unflavored, carbonated Kool-Aid to me!) When Wendy’s started using sea salt, they also entirely changed their fries. Unless you were scaping the salt off and tasting it on its own, that’s probably not the change you were noticing. If you can’t taste the quinine in tonic water, that’s…odd. Tonic is definitely sweet, but the bitter taste of quinine should usually be pretty noticeable. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-any-difference-between-sea-salt-and-regular-salt/602075/42 "2011-11-09T16:53:03Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > There is no detectable difference between Mortons Iodized Sea salt and their regular table salt. Yes, there is. The sea salt has grain sizes at least three or four times larger, which, as I mentioned, makes it better for measuring, pinching, and working with. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-any-difference-between-sea-salt-and-regular-salt/602075/43 "2011-11-09T23:42:55Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > Yes, there is. The sea salt has grain sizes at least three or four times larger, which, as I mentioned, makes it better for measuring, pinching, and working with. Umm. No. [http://www.mortonsalt.com/products/foodsalts/all\_purpose.html](http://www.mortonsalt.com/products/foodsalts/all_purpose.html) “_Morton® All-Purpose Sea Salts measure like table salt and are “recipe-ready” for cooking and baking. Plus Morton® Natural Sea Salt has no additives and is 100% natural. Harvested from the sparkling waters of the Pacific, these sea salts are Made by Nature”_. The ingredients and grain size are identical to regular table salt. Cost is double. Perhaps you are thinking of [http://www.mortonsalt.com/products/foodsalts/Sea\_Salt.htm](http://www.mortonsalt.com/products/foodsalts/Sea_Salt.htm) In the coarse version? In that case, yes, the larger grains can make a difference. It’s not iodized. The taste would be identical to regular (non-iodized) sea salt. Cost is about 5 times what table salt costs. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-any-difference-between-sea-salt-and-regular-salt/602075/44 "2011-11-10T02:57:22Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Umm. No. > > [http://www.mortonsalt.com/products/foodsalts/all\_purpose.html](http://www.mortonsalt.com/products/foodsalts/all_purpose.html) > > “_Morton® All-Purpose Sea Salts measure like table salt and are “recipe-ready” for cooking and baking. Plus Morton® Natural Sea Salt has no additives and is 100% natural. Harvested from the sparkling waters of the Pacific, these sea salts are Made by Nature”_. The ingredients and grain size are identical to regular table salt. Cost is double. Where are you getting the assertion that grain size is identical from? It “measures like table salt” because only exceedingly coarse salt doesn’t. I have both Morton’s Sea Salt and Morton’s Table Salt in my pantry. I actually went and looked. The difference in grain size is immediately apparent. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-any-difference-between-sea-salt-and-regular-salt/602075/45 "2011-11-10T06:20:59Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > The “salt” part of table salt (neglecting the iodine and anti-caking agents mentioned above) is 100% NaCl, while sea salt has some salts with Mg, Ca and K replacing some of the Na (and Br, sulfates, carbonates and a few other things replacing some of the Cl, but that’s not what we’re concerned with). > By weight, it means that sea salt has about 15 per cent less sodium for the same volume as table salt. Do the non NaCl salts really make up 15%? ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-any-difference-between-sea-salt-and-regular-salt/602075/46 "2011-11-10T13:01:27Z")
Perhaps the main taste difference is in the refining. Unrefined salts have other minerals and substances in them that add to the flavor and texture, refined salts do not. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-any-difference-between-sea-salt-and-regular-salt/602075/47 "2011-11-11T06:42:35Z")
> [@sh1bu1](#): > > Do the non NaCl salts really make up 15%? They’re not 15% of the weight of sea salt - there’s just (actually, I miscalculated, it’s) 22% less sodium by weight in sea salt than in 100% NaCl. So for 100g of NaCl, there’s 39.34g of Na, while for 100g of sea salt there’s [30.59g](http://www.seafriends.org.nz/oceano/seawater.htm)of Na. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-any-difference-between-sea-salt-and-regular-salt/602075.md?page=2)