This week, for example, Grand Saline, TX, celebrates its "salty heritage" in its 34th Annual Salt Festival. As the local Salt Festival Heritage Foundation reminds:

For decades, production of salt from the one of the largest salt deposits in the nation has been the lifeblood of this town that even bears the product’s name.

The mining operations by Morton Salt Co. reach a depth of 700 feet and extend over a 60-acre area. According to a Van Zandt County historical marker, the salt found here could supply the world’s salt needs for the next 20,000 years.

In downtown sits the Salt Palace Museum, made of pure rock salt. According to the foundation it was first built in 1936 and then rebuilt in 1975 when the Salt Festival was initiated and replaced again in 1993.

The museum displays information on the history of Grand Saline and salt mining memorabilia and shows a film on mining operations.

In downtown sits the Salt Palace Museum, made of pure rock salt. According to the foundation it was first built in 1936 and then rebuilt in 1975 when the Salt Festival was initiated and replaced again in 1993.

The museum displays information on the history of Grand Saline and salt mining memorabilia and shows a film on mining operations.

Congratulations to all involved in this celebration of the significance of the salt industry.

driven by increased demand as a result of favorable weather conditions for the business. Sales for ice-control use increased 35 percent versus the prior-year period, while strong sales growth also continued in non-ice applications.

Pretax earnings were up 43% to $67 million due to "(f)avorable weather conditions resulting in above-average demand for ice-control salt, volume gains in the consumer and industrial markets, the favorable impact of currencies and higher selling prices."

The meeting, themed with the Salt Institute slogan (and film title) "Salt: The Essence of Life," will be held at the China National Convention Center in Beijing. It is being sponsored and organized by Salt Institute member China National Salt Industry Corporation. The Salt Institute is co-sponsoring, along with the Indian Salt Manufacturers Association and the Solution Mining Research Institute.

Topics for which papers are invited include the following:

Keep a watch on the website as the program develops.

Highway salt sales were the second best year on record with 20.3 million tons (the record was set in 2005: 20.5 million tons were used to keep winter roads safe and passable), up sharply, 67%, over 2006, the worst year in highway sales for the past decade. Revenues for highway salt sales were $585.7 million

Among other major markets, salt for animal nutrition grew for the third year in the past four year after rather steady declines over the past decade, increasing 7.3% to 1.627 million tons. Chemical sales reversed an historic climb, recovering 11.3% to 2.1 million tons, the most since 2004. Food salt sales were totally flat: 1,562 in 2007, 1563 in 2006. The only declining market was water softening salt which fell from 3.6 million tons to 3.5 million tons in 2007, down 2.7%

Salt sales back to 1977 are reported on the Salt Institute website.

Overall, US salt sales for the six months increased to 16.3 million tons, up 37.4%, and revenues grew 30.4% to $832 million.

All of the increase was in rock sales to keep the nation's highways safe and passable. Rock salt sales climbed 57.2% and associated revenues by 76.4%. In contrast, evaporated salt sales were absolutely flat (they fell 1,000 tons from 2.106 million to 2.105 million tons). Solar salt managed a 9.3% tonnage increase. Revenues rose for both: evap sales advancing 8.8% and solar sales by 14.1%.

The only market decline was water softening tonnage which slipped 9% to 1.57 million tons. Chemicals salt sales reversed a prolonged slide, gaining 18.4% to 941,000 tons. Salt for human and animal consumption rose, respectively by 2.6% and 3.4% (790,000 tons of food salt and 802,000 tons of ag salt).

The Salt Instiutute has been reporting salt industry sales statistics since 1977.

No need to wait for Gen. Petreaus' report in September. THIS surge IS working.

China Daily reported:

Shang Ming, head of the Department of Treaty and Law under the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on August 1 yesterday that the drafting of China's Anti-monopoly Law was near completion, signaling the law's passing is imminent.

The Anti-Monopoly Law will act to protect fair competition, punish monopolistic behaviors, and help build a well-regulated marketplace.

The draft defines basic concepts, and stipulates anti-trust enforcement agencies' structure and responsibility, investigation procedure, and their legal liabilities.

The draft draws on earlier international anti-trust laws and well combines China's economic conditions, said Shang Ming.

China began drafting its Anti-Monopoly Law in 1994 and the first draft was completed in 2003. The draft is set to undergo its third review by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress this month.

Mr. Becky is President of Morton Salt, the company he has served since 1974. In 1999 when Rohm and Haas purchased Morton Salt, Mr. Becky was elected Vice President and a member of the Leadership Council. Under his direction, Morton Salt has made off-the-job safety education to company employees a top priority nationwide. Mr. Becky is also on the boards of the Morton Arboretum and the Network for Sustained Elimination of Iodine Deficiency.

"My association with the Home Safety Council continues to be one of the most rewarding affiliations of my career," says Chief Dennis Compton, Chair of the Home Safety Council's Board of Directors. "It's an honor to have
been elected Chair of this exceptional organization and I look forward to working with the outstanding staff and Board members as we continue to advance the Home Safety Council's critical life safety mission."

Well said. Unsaid is the fact that Morton Salt is no slouch for on-the-job safety either. Morton Salt is prominent among salt companies for its leadership in safety and well represented among award-winners in the Salt Institute's Safety Recognition Program.

Congratulations!

The model is that of Duke Energy's plant in Saltville, VA. Gas companies value salt cavern storage close to their customers for its security, cost-effectiveness and operational flexibility lowering consumer gas prices.

Dominion has set up a website for the project.

Local news coverage featured explanations from local Republican state Rep Matthew E. Baker (Wellsboro) who termed the twin projects "tow of the largest economic development ventures that have ever come to Tioga County" and noted "many jobs" would be created -- 75 projected in the "stoage factory" and 200 construction jobs during the first two years of the project.

Dominion chairman, president and CEO Thomas F. Farrell II described the project as an "exciting growth opportunity" for the company:

“The future of natural gas storage is here. ... Salt cavern storage is common in the producing area, but we are building this infrastructure close to the market area, where its advantages — high-deliverability, flexibility and expandability — will bring needed supplies to the market quickly, especially during peak weather conditions."

Two of a projected 18 underground salt cavities will be operational beginning in 2014.

Dr. Drueke noted that scientific investigation of the relationship of dietary salt and health outcomes has a distinct "political aspect" and represents an "ongoing hot debate on the pros and cons of a generalized salt restriction." He referenced Gary Taubes' article in Science: "The (Political) Science of Salt." Drueke declared:

In any case, high blood pressure is nothing more than a surrogate marker of outcome. What is really important is outcome itself. Surprisingly, the medical community has started only recently to examine this issue, namely a possible relationship between salt intake and cardiovascular or all-cause mortality. No prospective randomized controlled trials have been done to address this question. Only observational studies are available and their results led to contradictory conclusions."

He postulated that "the solution...may reside in the notion of salt sensitivity." Salt sensitivity, he explained differs from person to person and for a given person can vary from time to time based on other factors, including diet. He concluded:

"...the main focus on salt restriction is erroneous. In addition, although reducing sodium intake has many effects, either by its own or in interaction with other dietary components, we know nothing about their unintended consequences on human health."

Dr. Titze introduced data that completely call into question the evidence on sodium intakes over the past century. It has been well-accepted, he recounted, that the "gold standard" surrogate for dietary sodium intake is a 24-hour urine specimen, based on the well-understood notion that the body has a fixed store of sodium and daily additions are excreted to maintain sodium balance. He continued:

"Startling data from recent long-term balance studies, where healthy human subjects accumulated large amounts on Na+ without significant changes in their body water content, have challenged this traditional view....Subsequent experiments in animals have confirmed tht large amounts of Na+ can be accumulated without commensurate water retention in the organism."

This, in turn, led to the hypothesis that the skin and skeletal muscle could contain reservoirs of sodium which totally confound previously accepted measures of dietary sodium intake and that "...these Na+ reservoirs might 'buffer' the relationship betwen total body Na+ excess and blood pressure. This hypothesis has been supported in experiments...." This research clearly has major scientific and public health nutrition policy implications.

Dr. McCarron emphasized that evidence shows "that dietary patterns rather than salt should be the focus of public health nutritional recommendations to reduce BP" (blood pressure). He pointed out that the two DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) studies showed the importance to blood pressure of diets rich in calcium, magnesium and potassium (fruits, vegetables and dairy products), and that the Trials of Hypertension Prevention showed that the blood pressure lowering effect even of significant salt reduction disappears over three years. He noted that

"the intoduction of fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy (DASH diet) essentially eliminated salt sensitivity even in hypertensive individuals....the DASH-Sodium investigators (and) government agencies, without justification, have used this trial to argue for universal sodium restriction, regardless of blood pressure status....This position has occurred even though numerous meta-analyses and the results of the DASH-Sodium trial itself do not support the conclusions that sodium restriction is effective for normal individuals or for most hypertensive subjects."

Dr. McCarron then warned:

Sodium restriction has a variety of effects beyond blood pressure on other risk factors for CVD. These include weight, insulin resistance, angiotensin II, the sympathetic nervous system, diet quality and physical activity. For each of these risk factors, the preponderance of the evidence indicates that moderate or greater sodium restriction is associated with an adverse impact. Weight control is impaired, insulin resistance increases, angiotensin II levels are raised, sympathetic activity is increase, diet qualityis harder to achive, and maximal exercise capacity may be impaired. None are improved with sodium restriction. Thus, while BP may be decreased in 30-40% of individuals with sodium restriction, the impact on these other CVD risk factors in both salt-sensitive and salt-resistant individuals may offset any potential benefit."

Concluding the Forum, Dr. Graudal reviewed the mass of medical literature for which he has published one of the foremost meta-analyses. He declared:

"The fact is that today supporters of sodium reduction and sceptics do not diasgree about the effect size (BP reduction on reduced salt diets). Furthermore, they agree that sodium reduction can be useful in individuals with elevated BP. The controversial question is: Does an effect of 1-2 mm Hg in normotensive persons justify a general recommendation of sodium reduction in the whole population? The sceptics think not. The supporters think that any small decrease in BP will result inan improved survival and less morbidity. However a recent meta-analysis of the effect anti-hypertensive beta-blockers indicates that this is not necessarily the case....You must have proof and this does not exist, as also shown by a recent review of epidemiological studies which like teh clinical trials could not relate dietary sodium to to cardiovascular disease and death."

Thanks to the organizers of this valuable Forum.