8 surprising facts about salt you might have never heard before

17/09/2016

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Science Story: 8 surprising facts about salt you might have never heard before

Do you think you know everything about the most amazing mineral on the planet?

Everybody knows eating much salt is bad for our health. Still, we can't live without it. We consume salt every day, and sometimes it's impossible to imagine our favorite dishes without it. Of course, it's not only about eating and cooking: there are thousands of different uses of salt, and some of them are truly surprising. Well, today we want to share 8 amazing facts about salt with you - some of them really shocked us!

In winter, more salt is used for roads strewing than for cooking.

Most of the salt which is extracted from sea water or mined from the ground is used for industrial purposes and never gets into our food. In fact, in the United States, only 6% of the salt is used in the food industry and 15% of the produced salt is scattered on roads in winter when the road is slippery.

People believe that spilling salt causes troubles. Why?

Superstition "spilled salt" came from famous painting "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci. It’s considered that by throwing salt in the room you are throwing salt in the eyes of the devil.

Salt can kill you!

If you eat 1 gram of salt per kilogram of your body weight, it will kill you. In ancient China it was one of the ways to commit suicide. However, the salt then was very expensive, so only rich people could afford it.

Sea salt is better

Unlike treated salt, sea salt has more useful components which are necessary for your body. Slightly damp sea salt is the best.

Furious chef invented salty potato chips

Salted potato chips were invented in 1853. One day, an angry chef was trying to revenge his client who constantly complained of raw potatoes in his dish. The chef sliced the potatoes into very thin pieces and fried it up till it became brown and crispy, sprinkled with salt. Surprisingly the client liked it and later salted potato chips became popular.

There is a hotel in Bolivia, which is made entirely of salt

Palacio de Sal is a resort hotel, which is located on the edge of the salt flats. It was built entirely of compressed salt blocks. Chairs, tables, beds and even a swimming pool are also made of local salt sources.

You shouldn’t drink sea water, but you can drink water from sea ice

The use of sea water will kill you, because it has too much salt in its composition. But, if you break the ice of sea water, it is perfectly safe to drink. Unlike sea water in the normal state, Frozen sea water contains only one-tenth of salt.

The accident at the mine

In 1980, in Louisiana, USA, work on oil drilling was held. Accidentally drilled wells in salt lake created a huge whirlpool. It sucked 11 barges into the funnel.

Salt was more expensive than beer on the American border

Salt was very expensive in the early 1800s at the US border. It was four times as expensive as beer!

Learn more with QuizzClub:

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Do you have more facts about salt to share with us? We are waiting for your comments!

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117 Comments

Susana Crews

Hence the word salary.

Scott Sumone

some people use to get paid with salt....

Richard Sutherland

or the phrase "He isn't worth his salt" for one how did not earn his wages

Richard E. Buery

A dash of salt will stop bleeding of a wound.

Joe Pellegrini

I was told that the word salary is derived from the Latin or German word for salt . Salzburg was named for salt and salt was paid as mine workers salary

Addie Adams Wijnen

My mother had me gargle with salt. I just tried it again recently after my dentist told me to rinse my mouth with salt water to avoid infection. Gargling certainly does help. .

Thyamagondlu Siddagangappa Ramaiah

In our local language the salt referred to gratitude 'Any person who eats salt from any relatives or friends' it is a gratitude. It will be very difficult to repay back the 'salt gratitude'.