# Potassium chloride: except for price and tradition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 8, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potassium-chloride-except-for-price-and-tradition/520522 "2009-12-08T22:47:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potassium-chloride-except-for-price-and-tradition/520522/21 "2010-06-14T09:15:01Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > I was wondering if this was about the Jack Kevorkian “suicide machine” that used potassium chloride to stop the heart. I’m definitely not considering it for table use after it’s been in the news in that sense. Uh… actually, potassium chloride is one of the three drugs used in execution by lethal injection (first, sodium thiopental to induce unconsciousness; then, pancuronium bromide -a curare analogue- to stop the breathing, and finally potassium chloride to stop the heart). Of course, the doses used for each of those are huge (and each drug, by itself, in the doses used, is perfectly capable of killing the individual being executed). Nonetheless, yes, potassium chloride is the “go to” drug of choice when trying to induce irreversible cardiac arrest. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potassium-chloride-except-for-price-and-tradition/520522/22 "2010-06-14T10:31:03Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > Doctors sometime recommend potassium salt because sodium can contribute to the killing of the patient. Furthermore, potassium chloride is sold at the supermarket so it cannot be too hazardous so lets toss that explanation as not being a deterrent to \*widespread \*use. > > Taste is subjective. > > So, to restate the original question: _other than cost and a subjective reaction to taste_ are there any other reasons why it is not more widely used in food preparation? Bleach, aspirin and ammonia are also sold in the supermarket; one of them is even supposed to be ingested. That doesn’t mean any of them is supposed to be a part of every single meal you eat. I have low blood pressure, so I’m one person who should _not_ use LoSalt or any other form of KCl for health reasons. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potassium-chloride-except-for-price-and-tradition/520522/23 "2010-06-14T11:39:07Z")
When I’ve done a low-carbohydrate diet in the past, one of the problems is getting enough potassium in the diet. A lot of the higher potassium foods (potatoes, bananas, raisins, apricots, etc.) aren’t on the diet due to the carbohydrate content. I’ve sparingly used NoSalt in the past to compensate. The stuff tastes awful and I would make sure to use it only when cooking with a number of other spices as well. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potassium-chloride-except-for-price-and-tradition/520522/24 "2010-06-14T13:42:17Z")
> [@GythaOgg](#): > > I advise the patients I talk to to avoid potassium salt substitutes entirely, to throw out the ones they may already have bought… If they throw it into a bonfire, it will burn purple. I mean, that’s what _I_ do with potassium salt substitutes…you mean there are people who actually \*eat \*the stuff?! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/potassium-chloride-except-for-price-and-tradition/520522.md?page=1)