Ölgerðin and AkzoNobel want to make it absolutely clear, that industrial salt (or non-food grade salt) is NOTHING like road salt. Road salt has never been delivered or used in any consumer products in Iceland.

The industrial salt which caused all the fuss. Source: olgerdin.is.

Ölgerðin has admitted to the mistake of delivering non-food-grade salt to companies in the Icelandic food industry, instead of supplying the mandated food-grade salt, as it says in a statement.

This non-food-grade salt is labeled industrial salt, but the only difference between the two is a difference in attested quality standards, not in content. Both products are delivered in 25 kg. plastic bags, with similar grain size.

As AkzoNobel the manufacturer states very clearly in their announcement, non-food-grade (industrial salt) and food grade salt are made from the same source and in the same manner.

The difference between the two is the formality and amount of standardized quality inspections on the food grade salt, in accordance with the food safety standard HACCP.

The food grade and the non-food grade have identical content, almost to the milligram and both are manufactured under the ISO 9001 and 14001 standards, in the highly modern AkzoNobel salt-factory in Mariager in Denmark.

Contrary to some “wild” news stories in the international media (see links below), industrial salt is NOTHING like road salt. Road salt is manufactured in a different factory, processed and finished and handled in a completely different way.

Links to stories where it is falsely reported that industrial salt is road salt:

- sverigesradio.se
- svd.se
- expressen.se
- nsk.se
- theworld.org
- couriermail.com.au