Can Your "Natural" Greek Sea Salt Kill A Rat?

I grew up with Kalas Greek Sea salt just as many other Greek families have.

A few years back I looked at the nutrition label and to my surprise there was an E number designated as one of its ingredients. E536.

In countries within the European union (and Switzerland) "E numbers" are codes that have been designated to food additives that have been approved for consumption.

These "E numbers" are sneaky because you have to decode them to figure out what exactly they are.

When I see an E number I personally will not consume it (or at least I try to avoid it)

So what is the E number in Kalas sea salt?

Potassium Ferrous Cyanide

Now the European Food Safety Authority has deemed this chemical safe, but I would personally not want to consume this.

I looked up the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for Potassium Ferrous Cyanide
and this is what I found:

1) It is mutagenic (meaning it can mutate) to bacteria and yeast

2) It is a skin irritant, and hazardous to ingest or inhale.

3) 1600 mg/kg of Potassium Ferrous Cyanide can kill a rat !!!


In fairness this is a very small amount of cyanide. It contains a maximum of 10 ppm of the entire chemical Potassium Ferrous Cyanide.

1) Why would I want my body using its nutrients and resources to detoxify this compound when it can be using them for more important functions.

2) Why does salt need an anticaking agent?

3) I'd rather not eat chemicals that can kill a rat !!

Again, I am not trying to be an alarmist. This is a very small amount that is being used in Kalas Sea Salt, but I rather eat salt that does not contain any additives, especially additives that are toxic.

I personally would recommend using Himalayan sea salt or Celtic sea salt.

So Can Kalas Sea Salt kill a rat? No. There is a very small amount of Potassium Ferrous Cyanide in it, but I wouldn't eat this salt because the msds says this chemical is hazardous when ingested.