Iodine deficiency is often seen as a problem of the past, but this isn’t entirely true. During the 20th century, the iodization of salt became one of the most effective public health interventions for preventing conditions caused by a lack of this mineral, including goiter (enlargement of the thyroid gland) and preventable damage to neurological development.
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In blind taste tests people can not identify iodized salt
Yeah, I didn’t know iodized salt has a flavor issue, either. I’ve never heard of this before.
“People” eat McDonald’s french fries and add white sugar to weak coffee. Their palates are overwhelmed with refined salt and sweet. Iodized salt is chemically refined to iodine and sodium chloride, same as white sugar is refined down to sucrose, and high fructose corn syrup is refined to fructose and glucose, stripping out the flavor of the location, sugar cane, and corn, respectively. That’s great for manufacturing, just like the Red Delicious apple and bland reddish tomato. So yes, “people” can’t tell the difference between salts, and that’s unfortunate.
Literal professional cooks can’t tell the difference…
If that’s true, let’s name names. I’ll start: here’s Wolfgang Puck on Masterclass.
“Wolfgang says. “Now, you have so many different salts, even smoked salts, for example. If you want to roast or barbecue something, put a little smoked salt on it. What I use all the time is great sea salt or fleur de sel. I never use iodized salt because iodized salt is not good for you and has no flavor. Good salt has a lot of flavor.”” https://www.masterclass.com/articles/wolfgang-puck-on-seasoning-food
Those salts very distinctly are not pure NaCl. For example according to Wikipedia, fleur de sel is 0.4% magnesium, 0.2% potassium, 0.1% calcium by dry weight. (For comparison, iodized salt tends to have 25mg/kg of iodine, so… 0.0025%?)
That’s right. Their impurities and the essence of smoke and sea provide flavor beyond the taste of salt. They are not refined, purified, deprived of flavor, and infused with iodine. You know why iodine is added to salt? Because people literally need to take it with a grain of salt.
So we agree?
Pure, refined NaCl tastes the same as pure, refined NaCl with that amount of iodine added.
Smoked salt tastes the same as smoked salt with that amount of iodine added (if such exists?)
Fleur de sel would taste the same as fleur de sel with that amount of iodine added, if someone would make such a thing.
?
I prefer lovage salt to pure salt for lots of purposes too, that’s got nothing to do with anything iodine.