Nutritional values

Why are there no nutritional values on the packaging of Zeeland Salt?

Our salt products, including those with wakame, samphire, or black garlic, are natural products with no added sugars, fats, or preservatives. Because we do not make any health claims and the additives are present only in very small amounts (less than 15%), a nutrition facts label is not required under European law. Salt, of course, is still just… salt.

Because the nutritional value of salt is minimal, the European Union has decided that an exception applies to (sea) salt as far as nutrition labeling is concerned. This is stipulated in the EU 1169/2011 standard. Section B lists which products are exempt, number 5 being salt and salt substitutes.

We extract our salt from Eastern Scheldt seawater that meets our stringent quality requirements. All the water we pump and make salt from we filter through a 1 micron filter. This removes small particles such as sand, dirt and organic elements from the water. Furthermore, the water is analyzed regularly by an outside laboratory. So of all the salt we sell, the raw material is “Eastern Scheldt water.” Our salt is regularly analyzed for the amount of the following metals and minerals: Sodium (Na), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Potassium (K), Strontium (Sr), Boron (B), Bromine (Br), Sulphur (S), Lithium (Li), Beryllium (Be), Barium (Ba), Titanium (Ti), Vanadium (V), Chromium (Cr), Manganese (Mn), Iron (Fe), Cobalt (Co), Nickel (Ni), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Aluminum (Al), Silicon (Si), Arsenic (As), Antimony (Sb), Tin (Sn), Cadmium (Cd), Selenium (Se), Molybdenum (Mo), Mercury (Hg), Phosphorus (P), Phosphate (PO4), Lead (Pb), Iodine (I), Tungsten (W), Scandium (Sc), Lanthanum (La).

We’re also regularly asked why Zeeuwsche Zoute doesn’t yet have an organic certification. There’s a simple reason for this: salt cannot currently be certified as organic. At European level, however, regulations are being developed to make this possible in the future. That doesn’t change the fact that we already produce sustainably and use organic ingredients whenever possible. For example, both our black garlic and wakame are certified organic.