# The taste of "salt"

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-taste-of-salt/293560
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 8, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-taste-of-salt/293560 "2005-03-08T18:36:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-taste-of-salt/293560/1 "2005-03-08T18:36:55Z")

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Regular table salt is good old sodium chloride. However, there are salt substitutes made from potassium chloride and they taste exactly the same (at least to me, they do). Is it the chlorine that gives it the “salty” taste? If so, modern city water is chlorinated; why doesn’t it taste salty?

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### Author: ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-taste-of-salt/293560/2 "2005-03-08T18:54:35Z")

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Yes, it is the chlorine ions ([sup]-[/sup]Cl) that give salt its salty taste. Which is a good thing, since sodium ions abound in just about everything. The reason city water isn’t salty is because “chlorination” isn’t merely the addition of chlorine ions. Chlorination introduces hypochlorite ions ([sup]-[/sup]ClO[sub]4[/sub]) into the water: a different animal all together.

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### Author: ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2005, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-taste-of-salt/293560/3 "2005-03-08T18:55:36Z")

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NaCl and KCl taste nothing alike to me.

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### Author: ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-taste-of-salt/293560/4 "2005-03-09T21:29:48Z")

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> [@Dr. Lao](#):
>
> Yes, it is the chlorine ions ([sup]-[/sup]Cl) that give salt its salty taste. Which is a good thing, since sodium ions abound in just about everything. The reason city water isn’t salty is because “chlorination” isn’t merely the addition of chlorine ions. Chlorination introduces hypochlorite ions ([sup]-[/sup]ClO[sub]4[/sub]) into the water: a different animal all together.

Ah, enlightenment. Thank you!