To pierce the "net celebrity salt" gimmick, it is necessary to popularize nutritional knowledge
Zhang Chunyi
Recently, on the Internet, all kinds of "net celebrity" imported salts have broken people's cognition of salt. Himalayan pink salt, Persian blue salt, American Hawaiian black salt, French gray salt, salt flower... In addition to the beautiful packaging and various colors, With origin as a "selling point", these salts are surprisingly expensive.
For example, a 425-gram bottle of American Hawaiian black salt is priced at 169 yuan, which is more than 50 times more expensive than ordinary bagged salt.
(September 18, "Beijing Youth Daily")
"Hawaiian volcanic red salt is mixed with red volcanic mud, rich in minerals, crisp and tender in texture and mild in taste" "French gray salt comes from the Celtic Sea in France, with high water content, moist and crisp, rich in minerals Substances"... In the copywriting of the merchants, various "net celebrity" imported salts are not only full of exotic flavors, but also have unique nutrients.
Although it is often dozens of times more expensive than ordinary salt, there are still many consumers who are rushing for "net celebrity salt".
"Internet celebrity salt" generally focuses on "natural, origin, rich in minerals", but these are purely conceptual speculations and are not worth refuting.
First, edible salt mainly includes sea salt, lake salt, and mineral salt, which come from seawater, natural brine, and underground salt deposits, respectively.
It can be said that all table salt is "natural" and not synthetic.
Secondly, the main component of edible salt is sodium chloride. As long as the purity is up to standard, there is not much difference in the nutritional composition and value of salt from different origins.
Furthermore, the minerals in "net celebrity salt" are not the more the better.
Take Himalayan rose salt, which claims to contain 84 trace elements and natural minerals, as an example. Among them, 17 elements including arsenic, lead, aluminum, cadmium, mercury, and rare earth have been proven not to be needed by the human body, or even harmful to the human body; sodium, phosphorus, etc. And other elements, the human body is not only not lacking, but if there is too much accumulation in the body, it will cause harm.
More importantly, eating salt to supplement nutrients goes against the direction of the relevant departments to advocate a low-salt diet.
Studies have shown that excessive salt intake is closely related to hypertension and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Controlling salt intake is one of the important measures to prevent chronic diseases such as hypertension recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and governments around the world.
The results of several nutritional surveys show that the salt intake of Chinese residents exceeds the 5 g/day recommended by WHO and the 6 g/day recommended by the dietary guidelines for Chinese residents.
In view of this, the "Healthy China Action (2019-2030)" and "National Nutrition Plan (2017-2030)" all propose a reasonable diet and advocate reducing salt intake.
In 2012, when the former Ministry of Health revised the "Standards for the Use of Food Nutrition Fortifiers", it also specifically deleted salt as the carrier of food nutrition fortification, and no longer allowed the addition of nutritional fortifiers other than iodine.
Under this circumstance, it is obviously out of date for some businesses to hype up "net celebrity salt" and tout the idea of eating salt to supplement minerals and nutrients.
In addition, the statement "eating salt to supplement calcium" is even more contrary to science and self-contradictory.
In fact, eating more salt not only can not supplement calcium, but will lead to calcium loss.
Table salt contains sodium ions, and the metabolism of sodium and calcium in the human body is linked, and they are regulated by the same molecule.
When the sodium intake is too high, the body will work hard to excrete sodium, and at the same time, it will increase the excretion of calcium in the urine.
Studies have shown that for every 6 grams of salt you eat, you lose about 40 to 60 milligrams of calcium.
Therefore, "eating salt and supplementing calcium" is completely unreliable, and it is easy to mislead consumers.
Merchants hype "net celebrity salt", which not only makes consumers spend more money, but also may damage consumers' health and affect the level of national nutrition and health.
In this regard, the relevant departments cannot sit idly by and must take the initiative to intervene and actively intervene.
On the one hand, strengthen the publicity and popularization of nutrition knowledge, help the general public to improve their discernment, and see through the marketing gimmick of "net celebrity salt".
On the other hand, it is necessary to strengthen law enforcement and supervision, standardize the advertising of "net celebrity salt", and stop the claims that are easy to mislead consumers, so as to maintain market order and consumer rights.
Comics/Chen Bin