Lead in Sea Salt? {VIDEO} Redmond Sea Salt Mine Tour & Salt Lake City Recap

Is lead in sea salt a concern?

Last week I met up with several great friends over in Utah for the annual Wise Traditions conference and we had a blast! First, a bunch of us were spoiled by the neat people at Redmond Sea Salt and got to tour their mine, their farm, their farm store, restaurant and more. We also learned about lead in sea salt and whether or not we need to be concerned. My friend Kay and I also went on a Salt Lake City tour, and then it was off to the conference! Each year the friends and the food rank as THE best parts of this weekend; and oh yeah, the speakers are good too. 🙂 I always learn a ton, and I've only missed two conferences since 2010.

The video further below will recap the whole trip–see the time stamps if you don't have time to watch the whole thing!

We learned so much on the Redmond sea salt tour, and it was especially interesting to hear about all the ways they go beyond the required standards for mine safety and for the purity of their sea salt.

After learning more, I wanted to go to their farm store and fill up my cart with so many goodies, but since I was already at 50 pounds for my luggage, I had to wait and order from home–thankfully there was free shipping…

Here's what I ordered: (Use the code KOP for a discount on non-sale items.)

One of each of their seasoning blends: Go here to shop and click the “products” tab at the top and then click “seasonings”. The steak seasoning has BUTTER in it!!!

Next I ordered their Bentonite Clay after learning at the conference about all the benefits (forgive the shadow in the photo)–it's definitely something you want to keep on hand! Go here to get some–click the “products” tab at the top then click “Redmond clay”.

I already have the 25 pound bag of the fine salt that I use to refill my shakers because it's so much cheaper that way, especially with my KOP discount. But if you don't have their salt yet, go here to shop. Click the “products” tab at the top and then click “salt”.

Also in the video Zack (below) mentions their Re-Lyte electrolyte replacement (waaaay better/safer than Gatorade)–other similar products that are using salt from any coastal area are likely loaded with environmental polutants like dead animals, microplastics, oil spills, etc. Go here to shop. Click the “products” tab at the top and then click “Re-lyte”.

Watch the video here!

Catch the Q&A where we talk about lead in sea salt, see the CRAZY awesome lunch they made us, and watch our cannon and dynamite shoot! (Also Salt Lake City tour videos and a little Wise Traditions conference recap.)

***Video not playing nice? Go here to watch it on YouTube.

More about the lead issue in case you didn't watch the whole video explanation:

If you’ve heard about the ONE person trying to confuse people about Redmond Real Salt, we asked them about this on the tour and they explained that there is only a teeny tiny amount of naturally occurring unrefined lead in their salt that the body *can* process it, and you’d need to eat way more salt than you could ever eat in order for it to be a problem, like 6 pounds a DAY. So you’re getting more in your food than you’d ever get in their Real Salt. I’m so glad I went on the tour and could hear for myself about all the precautions they take to make their mine and their American sourced salt and all their products safe and super nutritious!

What else I learned on the Redmond tour:

“No salt on this earth should be pure white in its natural form.” If it is, then everything good has been killed out of it and it's been bleached. The the refined salt brands also add an anti-caking agent so it doesn't clump up in your shaker. (Cause it's SO hard to shake it a bit first before opening it…?) Plus any saltbed in the world, the ocean, the Great Salt Lake will be loaded with environmental polutants like dead animals, microplastics, oil spills, etc.
Redmond sea salt has never seen outside pollution, it's been hidden in the ground for 170 million years.
To further prevent contamination, the salt that is mined for food use is carefully ground/drilled, there is no blasting.
Salt used for other purposes besides food is blasted with ammonium nitrate, brought to the surface and crushed for various purposes like agricultural, hunting, de-icing, and equine to name a few.
The salt deposit is a remnant from an ancient sea called the Sundance Sea which existed in Central Utah.
It dates back to the Jurassic Period when a series of violent volcanoes erupted in the region and ash settled into the seabed to preserve it.
Redmond Salt contains: Sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, potassium chloride and 60+ trace minerals.
The deposit is 5,000 feet deep, nearly a mile underground.
There are currently six levels all being actively mined simultaneously. Engineers anticipate twelve levels at this site with 80 feet of solid salt in between each level.
Tunnels are 80×30 feet and extend 24 miles.
The mine stays 45-60 degrees year round.

Here are the Video time stamps if you don't have time to watch the whole thing:

00:16 Redmond mine tour
09:46 Salt for storage/preserving
09:57 Evaporation mining is the norm
10:28 Refined salt/no salt on earth should be pure white
10:50 Anti-caking agents
11:05 Pollutants in other salts
12:12 How they’re careful to keep their salt pure
12:40 The differences between their salt products
13:20 Redmond’s salt vs. other salts with higher minerals
16:10 Different mining practices and Redmond’s safety standards
16:34 He showed how hind end restaurants should serve salt at the table!
17:00 The problem they have when restaurants offer their salt
17:36 Their original Re-Lyte product (& what his wife does when running marathons)
18:55 Other electrolyte replacements have pollutants
19:10 Minerals in sole water?
19:37 The sweetest high quality salt you can get, highest in Manganese
20:43 Lead in sea salt? Their response to the claims that their salt has dangerous levels of lead
28:03 Hear the acoustics in the mine
28:59 They spoiled us with a superfood delicious lunch!
30:58 They let us shoot bowling balls out of a cannon and do a dynamite shoot too
31:39 We toured their farm and visited their farm store/restaurant
32:23 Salt Lake City tour: breathtaking Cathedral, State Capital
33:09 Tabernacle orchestra and choir!
34:40 Wise Traditions conference: lots of friends & great food
35:18 Find out where it is next year, join us!