CostCo sells a "pink Himalayan salt". The label touts that it is known as the "purest salt in the world" and is known for it's rich mineral content (aka impurities) that give it its distinctive color. I enjoy seeing who brings this up when I have guests: it's always the engineers.

Himalayan salts are high in bromine and probably shouldn't be eaten.

I'm not sure what significance engineers have here (who cares what an engineer things about salt?), but even given the hyperbole of marketing which is nothing new (again, surprised this is such a big deal when almost everything is marketed using insinuations, including Morton's), perhaps a reasonable interpretation of "pure" is "devoid of pollutants" (and "salt" understood in culinary terms, not as chemically pure NaCl, but as the naturally-occurring rock salt, with all of the mineral content). Whether the marketing jiggery pokery is true or not, it's a fallacy to attack the salt because of the label.

The significance of the engineers is they seem to be the group that reliably and exclusively notices. I'm not attacking the salt, I keep buying it. Not a big deal - it's a funny anecdote that apparently deeply bothers some people.

Some of these colored salts contain heavy metals

https://www.spexcertiprep.com/knowledge-base/files/AppNote_G...

Is it surprising that people with scientific education tend to notice scientific errors?

> Color of salt is meaningless.

Unless you are talking about salts with sulphur in them. Those really do taste different.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kala_namak

Tastes like old eggs, mostly. Can't stand kala namak.

There is a huge difference to me in taste between the iron oxide salts, the "lava" (charcoal) salts and regular sea salt. I've always had a really sensitive pallet though. However, to my understanding, you wouldn't add these salts to change the flavor of food in which you add salt as an ingredient. Instead you sprinkle the crystals over meat, desserts, and other small portioned foods to get the color and a specific flavor on surface bites.

Table salt a la Morton's is unpalatable to me.

Oh, yeah, that stuff is abhorrent.