How long can salt be preserved?

According to national regulations, the shelf life of salt is three years.

In fact, salt has no shelf life. As long as it is properly preserved and does not make the salt wet, it can be eaten normally. If the unopened edible salt is preserved for three years, it can still be eaten, but if it is preserved for three years, it is best not to eat it, because some other trace elements will be added to the salt now, which will affect the shelf life of the salt.

Generally, the shelf life of refined iodized salt is 5 years, and that of low sodium salt is 3 years. Nutrients such as calcium, zinc, selenium and iron will have corresponding shelf life. The shelf life of edible salt containing iron is 1 year, edible salt containing selenium, calcium and zinc is 8 years, and edible salt containing iodine is 18 months. Pure edible salt has no shelf life, even if it is wet, as long as it is not contaminated by toxins and radiation.

The difference between industrial salt and edible salt

The production process of industrial salt and edible salt is similar, and some even have the same process, but the process control of quality and hygiene in industrial salt production is relatively extensive. Edible salt has stricter protection of food and monitoring of harmful substances, and pays more attention to safety.

In terms of composition, it cannot be simply distinguished by sodium content. Some industrial salts have higher sodium chloride content than edible salts. Industrial salt only pays attention to the purity of sodium chloride. From the point of view of industrial treatment, all impurities in salt need pretreatment, and pure brine is needed to produce caustic soda and other products by electrolysis.

The focus of edible salt is human safety. These small amounts of impurities are harmless to human body. Some countries even require lower sodium chloride content in sea salt, because some of them are trace elements needed by human body, but harmful substances such as heavy metal content, nitrite and food additives are generally concerned.