Food grade sea salt

Sea salt, obtained by evaporating seawater, is used in cooking and cosmetics. Historically called bay salt, its mineral content gives it a different taste from table salt, which is pure sodium chloride, usually refined from mined rock salt (halite) or from sea salt.
Gourmets often believe sea salt to be better than ordinary table salt in taste and texture, though one cannot always taste the difference when dissolved. The mineral content also affects the taste. It may be difficult to distinguish sea salt from other salts with a high mineral content, such as pink Himalayan salt, or grey colored rock salt. Because sea salt generally lacks high concentrations of iodine, an element essential for human health, it is not necessarily a healthful substitute for regular iodized table salt, which is usually supplemented with the element, unless another source of dietary iodine is available (such as dairy products or regular processed foods). Unrefined sea salt contains many minerals that regular iodized table salt does not contain, such as calcium, potassium, magnesium and sulfate.