Frequently Asked Questions

Salinen Austria AG creates the brine required to produce evaporated salt by means of borehole probes. A vertical hole is drilled, into which a double-walled pipe is dropped. Water is then pumped in under high pressure, thereby dissolving the salt from the rock. The brine which results is then pumped out through an extensive network of pipelines (incidentally, first built in 1595, this is actually the oldest brine pipeline in the world) all the way to the saltworks in Ebensee am Traunsee.

Afterwards, the brine is purified, evaporated and dried. The result is purest evaporated salt with a sodium chloride content of as high as 99.9%.

The various salt products are sold under brand names PHARMASAL Pharmaceutical salt, GUSTOSAL edible salt, BAD ISCHLER table salt, SALTECH salt tablets and industrial salt, BIOSAXON foodstuff salts, POOLSALZ und DEFROST deicing salt.

The company makes the full portfolio of evaporated salt products, including extremely pure salt for pharmaceutical purposes, table salt (with and without fluoride and iodine), nitrite pickling salt, industrial salt, salt for water treatment, salt tablets for water softening, bath salt, pool salt, foodstuff salts (cattle salt and lickstones) as well as salt scattered for deicing purposes.

Natural salt - all-natural rock salt - as table salt.

Potassium sulphate - this is a high-quality byproduct created in the production of evaporated salt. Potassium sulphate is used as an organic fertilizer and also for industrial purposes.

Salt production is one of the oldest technical achievements of mankind.

Salt was obtained as salt lakes gradually dried out, as well as through various other evaporation methods. The heyday of salt mining was in the Bronze Age and is referred to nowadays as the Hallstatt Period – an era that lasted roughly from 1200 to 400 BC.

Salt mining in Austria actually began more than 7000 years ago. That is when salt was first mined in Hallstatt, site of the world’s oldest salt mine.

Salt was first produced industrially in Ebensee by means of an evaporation tank in 1607.

Further information can be read in the company history of Salinen Austria AG.

This can be explained by means of the Bar Theory proposed by Ochsenius (1877) 

The preservation of food with salt is one of the oldest and most important forms of human technology. The addition of salt was one of the most reliable methods of preserving food and making it transportable. This made salt an indispensable and exceptionally valuable natural resource. Salt production and salt trade were already an important economic factor back in prehistoric times. Until the early modern era, only few people could actually afford this valuable commodity. Ownership of salt indicated wealth.

Salt is extracted from the mountains of Altaussee, Hallstatt and Bad Ischl (Austria) with the help of pure spring water. The production process takes place at a salt works in Ebensee am Traunsee (Austria). The natural salt utilized by Salinen Austria AG is mined in Altaussee (Austria).

The evaporated and natural salts extracted by Salinen Austria AG originate from a primordial ocean that used to cover large portions of today’s Salzkammergut region 250 million years ago. Because it is deposited deep inside the mountains of Austria, it is protected from environmental pollution including micro plastics.

All products from Salinen Austria AG should be stored in a dry environment. Furthermore, nitrite pickling salt should be shielded from light.

DD.MM.YYYY hh:mm T

DD.MM = day and month of the production week in question

YYYY = year of production plus shelf life in years

hh:mm = time of production

T = production day, with Monday =1, Tuesday =2, etc.

For example, an item with a storage life of 3 years that was produced at noon on Wednesday, 11.02.2017: 08.02.2020 12:00 3

Packaging codes may vary according to regulations governing specific items.

The storage life depends on the item according to product specifications. The raw ingredient salt has an unlimited storage life.

Yes, the products from Salinen Austria AG do meet vegetarian/vegan nutritional demands!

No, products from Salinen Austria AG do not contain any lactose!

Yes, the salt products (with the exception of a few herbal salts) are kosher-certified.

Yes, the salt products meet Islamic dietary requirements. All products are halal-certified.

Yes, we are ISO 9001-certified.

ISO 14001 environmental management

IFS (international food standard) (which also includes the HACCP system)

QS and A-certification for foodstuffs

Organic Certification for specific food products, for Bio-7-Kräuter Gewürzsalz and various herbal blends with natural salt 

Kosher for most products made from evaporated salt

Halal for all products

GMP and CEP for pharmaceutical salt

The company’s current certificates can be downloaded in our download area 

Yes, the packaging we use meets all legal requirements. Our suppliers confirm their compliance with EC regulation No. 1935/2004 (EU provisions governing materials and objects intended to come into contact with food products) and EC regulation No. 10/2011 (EU provisions governing materials and objects made of plastic that are intended to come into contact with products).

Migration testing of plastic wraps etc. is conducted by the suppliers.

Yes, Salinen Austria AG is ISO 14001-certified.

Salt is sodium chloride (NaCl); in other words, a chemical compound consisting of sodium and chlorine ions.

Salt is a chemical sediment. A long time ago, its components were bound to other minerals and rocks.

It is a mineral that is vital to the existence of humans and animals.

Depending on where it is produced and originates, we differentiate between three types of salt:

Evaporated salt has lain untouched for millions of years inside the mountain. Production methods involve first dissolving the salt with the help of water (“wet mining”) and then evaporating the brine at a saltworks. What remains is a food salt with a very high degree of purity.

Rock salt (natural salt) is embedded in the rock and is extracted by miners (“dry mining”), with chunks of salt broken out of the mountain by mechanical means.

Sea salt is extracted from seawater. The sea water is pumped into salt ponds, where the wind and radiation from the sun evaporate the salt water, ultimately producing crystallized sea salt.

Actually, the salt is not refined. Rather, the salt water extracted from deep within the mountain is cleaned, evaporated, crystallized and dried, resulting in an extremely pure product.

Table salt has been iodized in Austria since 1963, with the intention of preventing iodine deficiency as well as the development of goiters. It promotes normal thyroid function. Our body is unable to produce it itself and has to absorb it from the foods we eat. The recommended daily iodine intake for adults is 180-200; for children/youths: 40 – 200 µg. The most important natural sources are saltwater fish, sea creatures and algae. Because it is difficult to achieve the recommended daily dose through these somewhat restricted sources, iodine is added to table salt in Austria.

Fluoride is an important trace element that the body is unable to produce itself. Fluoride makes a significant contribution to maintenance of dental mineralization. As a consequence, small doses of fluoride are added to salt in order to prevent tooth decay.

An adult should not consume less than 1.4 g per day in order to compensate for natural salt loss through e.g. sweating.

The WHO recommends that adults consume no more than 6 g of salt daily in order to support all bodily functions.

Salt regulates osmotic pressure in the vessels. That said, the human body – in particular, the water and nutritional balance – would simply not function without salt.

Salt draws out water, removing what is essentially a breeding ground for bacteria and thereby preserving food products.

Pool water containing salt runs through an electrolysis cell that converts the salt into chlorine. This chlorine disinfects the water in the pool and is converted back to salt, which is once again pumped through the electrolysis cell. This type of water purification results in perfect disinfection despite the low chlorine concentration, meaning it is exceptionally well tolerated by the skin.

An ion-exchange water softener involves the calcareous water flowing through a tank containing a polystyrene-based resin. The lime and magnesium attach to this synthetic resin. However, the amount of lime and magnesium the resin is able to absorb is limited. With the help of regenerating salt, these substances can be displaced and the resin is once again able to soften fresh water.

Salt lowers the melting point of water. Fresh water freezes at 0°C, whereas a saturated salt solution doesn’t freeze until it reaches -21 °C. If you spread salt on ice, it dissolves in the surface film of water and prevents future ice crystallization. Where the ice and the salt solution meet, the ice continues to melt until it is completely liquefied.

This is an extremely small amount of salt. A pinch of salt is as much as two fingers can hold. In the literature there is the information, that a pinch of salt is an amount between 0.03 (fine-grained salt) and 0.04 (coarse-grained salt) gram. The amount of salt heavily depends on individual habits and finger size of the cook and therefore may vary in practice.