Articles & references
For those wishing further in-depth information or access to original sources summarized on our website, and for easy reference to Salt Institute publications, published articles by Salt Institute staff, news releases and public statements, feel free to browse our online library or use our “search” feature.
As a starting point, we recommend these easy-to-use, one-page fact sheets, vetted by the Salt Institute's experts, providing the most relevant data on three primary areas of use -- for road salt, food salt and salt-regenerated water softeners.
These fact sheets are printable, in pdf format.
Road salt saves lives, protects commerce (pdf 108.99 kB)
Food salt essential to life, health (pdf 137.77 kB)
Water softening protects home, budget, environment (pdf 268.75 kB)
Salt Institute letter to government agencies saying sodium should be withdrawn from dietary guidelines (pdf 454.41 kB)
We publish four quarterly electronic newsletters that may be of special interest. All are free subscriptions with instructions included in the text (or e-mail us to tell us which you'd like to receive)
Salt and Highway Deicing -- news of interest to professional snowfighters -- and their customers, those who use our roadways in winter
Sign up for the Salt and Highway Deicing Newsletter RSS Feed.
Salt and Health -- news about medical and public health nutrition research and public policy
Sign up for the Salt and Health Newsletter RSS Feed.
Salt and Trace Minerals -- news of interest to animal nutrition professionals and students
Sign up for the Salt and Trace Minerals Newsletter RSS Feed.
Salt and Environment -- news of interest to those concerned with the environment.
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The Salt Institute is committed to promoting improved public understanding about salt, its production and uses. To that end, we publish materials and collect and organize other materials so our visitors can read source documents which extend the discussions on our website. Some of these materials are copyrighted by the Salt Institute and these documents reside on our website; descriptive information about other important references for which the Institute does not hold copyright permission to web-publish are included with online hyperlink access to the copyright holder.
We've organized these articles and references as follows:
Proceedings of the International Salt Symposia . These periodic global symposia conducted since 1962 cover the entire gamut of salt concerns from the geology of salt deposits to salt history, then on to salt production and its myriad uses.
About salt . These references include Salt Institute publications about sodium chloride and collected materials about salt's chemical and physical properties.
Uses of salt . These references include Salt Institute publications about the many uses of salt. These include our three newsletters, Salt and Health, Salt and Highway Deicing and Salt and Trace Minerals. For both materials published by the Salt Institute and those produced by others, we've organized the articles and references by user category (e.g salt in history and culture, consumer salt tips, food salt, road salt, water softening salt and "ag salt," etc.).
Salt production . These references include those produced by the Salt Institute as well as other valued sources of data and explanation about how salt is made and transported and the companies that do it -- the salt industry.
Salt issues . The production and use of salt involves numerous intersecting social and political considerations. The Salt Institute is dedicated to helping society enjoy the benefits of salt use. There are competitive products and a variety of agendas competing in society. These references include both commentaries and source documents that are important to inform these policy discussions.