Himalayan salt
(Himalayan pink salt)
Even though its name gives the impression that it comes from the pristine environment of the Himalayas, Himalayan salt is sourced hundreds of kilometers away from this mountain range - to be precise, from salt mines in the Salt Range, a hill system in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains in Pakistan.
Primarily sourced from the Khewra Salt Mine in Punjab, Pakistan, the gourmet rock salt is gathered from orange pink-colored rock crystals (sometimes off-white or transparent crystals) that have been extracted from ancient salt deposits estimated to be nearly 800 million years old.
The pink salt has long been praised for being one of the most natural and cleanest salts in the world, and it has received global attention in recent years because of its supposed outstanding nutritional value and an endless list of health benefits that it’s believed to offer to its consumers. Read more
Scientific research has, nevertheless, not been able to support any of these alleged claims about the salt or its benefits yet. In terms of nutritional value, the pink salt is believed to be as nutritious as regular salt - no less and no more - regardless of the number of minerals and trace elements it contains.
In the past, the indigenous people of the Himalaya region used the pink salt mainly for food preservation. The salt is nowadays added to various dishes as a seasoning to enhance their flavor, but it is also used in the production of numerous products such as Himalayan salt lamps.
It is also important to point out that this salt is a non-renewable natural resource that will cease to exist once the entire salt deposit has been extracted from its native region.
