How is salt produced and marketed?

How is salt produced and marketed?

Edible salt production in Iran

Despite the attention of many countries to this vital substance throughout history, which sometimes led to war between them, little attention has been paid to this important vital element in our country.

rock salt

Before the construction of salt refineries, edible salt was produced in traditional workshops in this way, after grinding and filtering, iodine was added to the rock salt extracted from the mine, and it was consumed in yellow nylon bags. became.

This type of salt is non-standard due to the fact that no purification is done on it, and its oral consumption causes adverse effects in the long term, and its consumption should be avoided.

Mechanized method of salt purification

The production method in salt refining factories includes the following steps:

1- Grinding rock salt (or using evaporated salt directly) and dissolving it in pure water and preparing a saturated solution of salt water.

2- Adding chemicals to completely deposit calcium and magnesium and remove insoluble materials.

3- Passing the salt water solution through sand filters to remove particles smaller than 30 microns.

4- Evaporation of saturated salt solution and production of pure salt crystals and their separation by centrifuge.

5- The final washing of salt crystals in a centrifuge and adding iodine to it.

6- Drying the salt crystals in the dryer using hot air and transferring the salt to storage silos.

7- Packing salt with fully automatic devices.

As it can be seen, in this method, in addition to increasing the purity level to at least 99.5%, all soluble and insoluble salt impurities are removed, and due to the high temperature used, microbial contamination (which is of great importance in the food industry) They disappear

Iodization of salt

Many food items are usually lacking in the diet of the people of our country. Iodine is one of these substances, although the body does not need a large amount of it, but its deficiency also causes many problems.

Iodine deficiency disorders have put more than one billion people in the world, including Iran, at risk. Studies show that salt is the most ideal means of increasing iodine, because it is the only food available to the general public, and in most rural communities it may be the only commodity that reaches them from outside.

The methods of adding iodine to salt are simple and applicable, especially when the salt is refined for consumption, iodization will have a very small effect on its price. To add iodine to salt, iodide compounds or potassium iodate are used in the amount of 30 to 50 gamma (mg/kg).

Adding iodine to salt has had a great effect in eradicating goiter among Iranian people. National standard of table salt

The first standard of table salt in 1344 by the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran