TAIPEI: Super store chains, including Carrefour and RT-Mart, have pulled what is believed to be industrial salt from their shelves, as health authorities are investigating a Taoyuan company that is reportedly selling non-edible salt for table use.

Kaohsiung District Court prosecutors, acting on a recent tip-off that some businessmen were illegally selling non-edible industrial salt packaged as a condiment to supermarkets in the Kaohsiung area, traced the product to a sea salt processing company in Taoyuan County.

The investigators demanded that the company stop delivery of the salt to stores and took samples of the company's products for testing.

A spokesman for the prosecutors office said yesterday that salt for industrial use is usually priced at around NT$3 per kilo, while table salt is sold at NT$25 per kilo in supermarkets. The businessmen may have made profits amounting to tens of millions of New Taiwan dollars over the past years by selling unprocessed sea salt on the market, the spokesman said.

As edible and industrial salt look alike, consumers could have difficulty telling them apart, according to the spokesman.

Non-edible industrial salt is low in iodine, may contain high levels of metal and can cause severe health problems, he added.

The prosecutors office has also advised local health authorities around the island to check the condiment shelves of all food stores and remove suspected salt products.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 11/19/2009 page2)