I’ve become rather adept at viewing TV shows that I’ve recorded on the DVR. I’ll zip through commercials at the two-little-triangles speed, or if I’m in a big hurry, three little triangles. So it’s all the more impressive when an advertisement catches my eye, forcing me to be kind (to sponsors), rewind, and watch at standard speed. Is this the reason why commercials are getting increasingly surreal? Or is it that creative departments at ad agencies are now populated by the all-grown-up ecstasy generation? Whatever the case, I certainly pressed pause last week when my screen was filled by a sword-fighting Mr. Peanut on the high seas:
The point of this nuttiness? To proclaim that Planters products are now made with pure sea salt. That’s right, pure sea salt. Now, if you’re like me, you’re thinking, “I have no idea why or if I should care about that.” As I’ve previously said, I last purchased salt in 1992. I haven’t been closely following any trends or innovations in the industry. I know that a wonderful but hopelessly pretentious local movie theater puts out sea salt to sprinkle on their critically-acclaimed popcorn. But does that mean it’s better? Is sea salt of an inherently higher quality than, uh, land salt, or, uh, salt scraped off a cooled-down big fat sweaty guy? I simply do not know.
The Planters website was no help. No press releases on the positive impact of sea salt on the… human body? environment? exploitative world of child labor? So I then turned to our old friend Google. And apparently was not the first to do so.
The first legitimate-looking link that cropped up was from the esteemed Mayo Clinic, who generally debunked the “sea salt is better” philosophy with statements such as:
• “Sea salt and table salt have the same nutritional value.”
• “There’s no evidence that the additives in table salt are harmful to your health.”
Even the pro-sea-salt comment in there (“Many people prefer sea salt to table salt because they claim it has a more subtle flavor”) seems like they want it taken with a… you know… grain of… something. Then again, perhaps some place named after mayo shouldn’t be getting all high-and-mighty about sodium.
My curiosity sated, I was able to once again focus on more pressing matters. Mr. Peanut on a sailboat… big yellow body… shilling sea salt… it was staring me in the face all along… could he possibly be…
the love child of the Gorton’s fisherman and the Morton salt girl?!?
Natural unprocessed sea salt has over 80 different mineral that your body needs. Yes, needs, these are actually minerals that the human body requires to be healthy. Natural sea salt is so complex that it cannot be replicated in a lab if they tried. True natural sea salt is a lot different than processed, sodium chloride, table salt. One example, it doesn’t burn. When placed in a wound natural sea salt doesn’t burn like regular salt, and can actually be used to kill infection, and reduce swelling. True natural sea salt and table salt are vastly different. I think it taste better, and I prefer products that use it. Here is some info I found with a quick google search http://www.vrp.com/articles.aspx?ProdID=1835