Organic Insights – Edition 613 Can Salt Be Organic? The Gap Between Rules and Reality

By Mr. Anil M V, Director, Organil Services

Walk through the aisles of an online marketplace or a premium grocery store, and you will see rows of beautifully packaged “Organic Himalayan Pink Salt”, “Organic Celtic Sea Salt”, and “Organic Crystal Salt”. The branding is deliberate — earthy tones, eco-friendly fonts, and wellness-centric messaging. Most consumers will not think twice before adding it to their cart. It feels authentic, and the word organic seals the deal.

Does an organic salt exist? Salt is a mineral, not a product of agriculture, and therefore cannot be certified organic. Something could be labeled an organic salt but that would mean that there were other ingredients in the product that were certified organic, but not the salt itself. - AMS Guidance on Salt use (NOP)

The part seems questionable when looking into the EU Regulation where amending Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards detailed production rules for organic sea salt and other organic salts for food and feed ‘Part VIII: Sea salt and other salts for food and feed In addition to the production rules laid down in Articles 9 to 11, the rules set out in this Part shall apply to the organic production of sea salt and other salts for food and feed. Organic salt shall be obtained from the sea, from rock salt deposits, from natural brine or from salt lakes. It shall not be a synthetic product of chemical reactions or made from effluents from the chemical industry, desalination plants, a potash flotation process, or by synthetic chemical reactions. This again all depend on the Third party certification body accredited to perform this certification which needs more clarification of how its done.

As per the NPOP Chapter 3 point 3..5.4 iv reveals about Potable water and salt to be used in Organic Product as an ingredient and Added water and salt shall not be included in the percentage calculations of organic ingredients.

But salt is a mineral. It does not grow, it is mined or harvested, and by nature it does not require any cultivation inputs like pesticides or fertilisers. Globally, under frameworks like NPOP and USDA NOP, salt can be an approved ingredient in organic products, but it cannot itself be “certified organic” in the way farm produce can. The rules are there. The problem is not the absence of regulation — it is the way these rules are interpreted, communicated, and enforced.

Somewhere between the drafting of guidelines and their implementation in the retail space, the system loses its grip. The codex of organic regulations sits on paper, but in practice, oversight is inconsistent. E-commerce platforms rely on seller declarations. Certification bodies may not have jurisdiction over marketing once the product is in the retail chain. Regulators, often stretched thin, cannot inspect every label or listing. This creates an open lane for those willing to push the boundaries, knowing the chance of being caught is slim.

The reality is uncomfortable: when one business bends the truth and faces no consequence, it sets a silent precedent. Others will follow — not because they misunderstand the law, but because they see the competitive advantage of misrepresentation. This chain reaction fuels a market where consumers are unknowingly misled, paying a premium for a claim that holds no organic integrity.

The real danger is not just mislabelling salt. It is the erosion of consumer trust in the entire organic label. If a simple regulatory breach is left unchecked in such a visible product category, it raises doubts about what else slips through unnoticed. And the longer these gaps remain unaddressed, the more the credibility of certified organic products will weaken in the eyes of the public.

Consumers deserve more than marketing illusions. Rules exist for a reason, but their value lies only in their application. When enforcement is absent, rules become optional. And when rules become optional, the market stops rewarding integrity and starts rewarding deception.

"When rules are left unenforced, they don’t just fade — they invite the very violations they were meant to prevent."

📞 Anil M V | Director – Organil Services 📱 +91 8606551335 ✉️ info@organil.org

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