By Micah Cheek
Hawaiian red salt and charcoal black salt could be disappearing from interstate sales because the Food and Drug Administration is calling the red clay in Hawaiian salt and the charcoal in black salt adulterants. With their businesses in jeopardy, salt producers are confused and angry about the potential losses if the FDA decides to prohibit them from selling their salt across state lines.
The FDA is saying that red alea salt gets color from added clay, and since the clay is not an approved color additive, the salts are considered adulterated. The FDA has regulations specific to this issue, stating in the Code of Federal Regulations that even if an additive’s primary purpose is not as a color, it can only be considered exempt if “… any color imparted is clearly unimportant insofar as appearance, value or marketability, or consumer acceptability is concerned.” Naomi Novotny, President of SaltWorks, questions whether this guidance even applies to her product. “If you’re using it for pork, that clay really seals the moisture in,” says Novotny. “The clay has a functional use. The way I read that document, it doesn’t really apply to Hawaiian salt.”
The addition of clay has been considered by some to be equivalent to the natural colors that occur in other salts. “I buy French gray salt which is scraped off a salt lake. The gray color comes from the clay at the bottom of the lake bed. I scrape the salt, and it is not purely white in color, and [it is] according to this document perfectly fine,” asserts Brett Cramer, Vice President of The Spice Lab.
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A great deal of speculation has surrounded the FDA’s sudden attention on these salts. “I don’t know why,” says Novotny. “Especially since everything comes through as food grade.” The FDA declined to comment on what prompted the guidance.
One prevalent theory is that knockoff products have made their way into the market with inferior ingredients. Another belief is that a major salt producer brought it to the FDA’s attention as a business tactic. “We make infused salts with spices in them. They’re colored. Should they be outlawed? In the future, should the only thing we sell be pure white salt from two companies?” Cramer speculates.
It is unclear whether the FDA is going to enforce this guidance in the near future. A representative of the FDA wants to make clear that the products are only considered adulterants because they have not been evaluated, saying “We encourage people who are interested to go through the petition process. There’s also guidance on the actual petition, in order to make this as easy a process as possible.” The review process for a color additive generally takes 90 days, and carries a listing fee of $3,000. As of mid-November, no petitions for review for alea clay or charcoal have been submitted. Until further action or enforcement takes place, Saltworks and other companies are continuing to sell red alea and black charcoal salts. “We’ve been working with our customers and letting them know if they have concerns at all about the salt,” says Novotny. “We know this is safe.”