Talk:Salt substitute

Kainit?

Does anyone know if the word kainit in the article is meant to be kainite or if it is meant to be "salts of potassium used in the manufacture of fertilizers" (from kainit on Wiktionary)? Thanks, Pupsterlove02 talk • contribs 16:22, 14 June 2020 (UTC)

But these are just different salts - hypertension

Isn't the mechanism by which salt causes hypertension essentially osmotic pressure? Wouldn't any other salt, regardless of its specific minerals, still cause the same effect or at best, a lesser one? - anon

• Probably not. Kidney has different mechanisms to handle sodium and potassium and other metal ions. This article is about things that taste like salt. - Rod57 (talk) 11:18, 21 December 2025 (UTC)

Low sodium salt redirects here, but not reflected in intro.

Low sodium salt redirects here, and there is some related content under Research. Article seems to cover both no-sodium salt substitutes, and low sodium salt mixtures. Should split, or make it clearer. Could start with a Low-sodium salt section ? - Rod57 (talk) 11:12, 21 December 2025 (UTC)

Agreed, I have had a go at including some more information in the introduction about common products and compositions.

There is scope to expand the article as there has been a decent amount of research published in the last five years. So it would be possible to have some sections on background (this could replace the excerpted section), mechanism of action in the body, commercial production, taste, typical composition and so on.

No-sodium products are not very common commercially and are not focused on in research as much (they are more interested in the NaCl/KCl mixes) so I am not sure how much the article should focus on those beyond noting they exist. Hanne Thato (talk) 04:49, 23 December 2025 (UTC)

'Salt substitute' sometimes vague

When article says 'salt substitute' (eg. in Research) it's not clear if it refers to a no-sodium substitute, or a 25% or 50% less sodium mixture, or all of those. US products seem to be mostly 25% KCl,75% NaCl, whereas in UK 50:50 (or 51:49) is usual. - Rod57 (talk) 11:12, 21 December 2025 (UTC)

@Rod57 In the research section, the mixture used in each specific trial is already mentioned.

It isn't mentioned for the review papers as these take in many trials with varied mixtures. This could be noted in the body text if you want to add, or I'll get to it soon. Hanne Thato (talk) 11:55, 22 December 2025 (UTC)

• @Hanne Thato, thanks. Maybe first we should get the intro to explain what this article covers or is intended to cover. (I split my comment to separate the issues) - Rod57 (talk) 17:16, 22 December 2025 (UTC)

Image

@Zefr: I'm generally of an opinion that encyclopedia articles benefit from appropriate images illustrating the article subject. So, about 15 years ago, I found a Flickr free image of a particular brand of commercial salt substitute composed mainly of potassium chloride and added it to the article as a fair use image. You've reverted the addition twice recently, with the last revert noting that the image was WP:PROMO and "it's a white crystalline powder as expected; not an educational image." Well, gosh, a pile of a white crystalline powder seems to me to be less of an educational image for the typical reader of the article than that of a container of a typical salt substitute sold commercially. The intent is not to promote a brand. If your objection is to the specific brand or company, how about we use an image of a more common salt substitute brand container, such as one produced by Morton (Morton Salt Substitute), even though that brand has 4 ingredients (Potassium Chloride, Fumaric Acid, Monocalcium Phosphate & Silicon Dioxide), while Also Salt's formula has but 2, (Potassium Chlroide & Lysine per Also Salt's My Salt Substitute) or any another producer? If you feel that strongly, how you about adding an image of potassium chloride from Commons, available here: Potassium chloride.Geoff | ^{Who, me?} 22:08, 25 December 2025 (UTC)

How about this one? Zefr (talk) 22:26, 25 December 2025 (UTC)

I have access to a number of salt substitute products and could take an image that shows multiple different products. Will do this and post here for consideration.

I agree that having an image is helpful, but I did think focusing on one specific product was less desirable and the image appeared somewhat dated, though as a newer editor not sure how relevant these are to Wikipedia policies. Hanne Thato (talk) 23:11, 25 December 2025 (UTC)

@Hanne Thato and Zefr: Well, a pile of white crystals is better than nothing, but I like Hanne Thato's idea of an image of multiple products, as none of them I've found over the past 15+ years are solely composed of potassium chloride, so an image of the just that chemical compound wouldn't really reflect what is being used on the market as a salt substitute as described in the article. It seems to me that a range of products which might be familiar to the reader would better illustrate the article subject. And maybe that would obviate concerns about promoting just one product, which was never the intent. Cheers! Geoff | ^{Who, me?} 23:48, 25 December 2025 (UTC)