Following a story published by IceNews and other Icelandic news channels regarding industrial salt being used in commercial food production, a number of international media channels have misinterpreted and distributed false information.
The problem at hand is the identification between industrial salt and road salt. Contrary to news stories in the international media, industrial salt is nothing like road salt, and road salt has never been delivered or used in any consumer products in Iceland.
In an official statement, Olgerdin, the importer of the salt in question, and AkzoNobel, the manufacturer of the salt, made it absolutely clear that industrial salt (or non-food grade salt) is nothing like road salt. According to both companies, road salt is not only manufactured in a separate facility, it is also processed, finished and handled in a completely different manner.
However, Olgerdin has admitted to the mistake of delivering non-food-grade salt to companies in the Icelandic food industry, instead of supplying the mandated food-grade salt. According to Olgerdin, this non-food-grade salt is labeled industrial salt, but the only difference between the two is a difference in attested quality standards, not in content – both products are delivered in 25kg plastic bags, with a similar grain size.
AkzoNobel officially states that “non-food-grade (industrial salt) and food grade salt are made from the same source and in the same manner. The difference between the two is the formality and amount of standardised quality inspections on the food grade salt, in accordance with the food safety standard HACCP.”
The statement continues, “The food grade and the non-food grade have identical content, almost to the milligram and both are manufactured under the ISO 9001 and 14001 standards, in the highly modern AkzoNobel salt-factory in Mariager in Denmark.”
The original story published by IceNews can be read here.
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