Harvested near the Essex town that gives it its name, Maldon Salt has become a favourite among celebrity chefs and food influencers.
However, an investigation suggests the company’s claim that its flakes are made from “100 per cent sea salt” may be more complicated than many customers realise.
The investigation found that imported rock salt, mined in Germany, is used during production of the premium Essex product. Maldon Salt says the rock salt acts as a filtration agent and helps “enrich the seawater” with minerals.
Known as the “salt-on-salt” method, the traditional process adds salt to increase the water’s salinity. This reduces the energy needed to evaporate the water and produce salt crystals.
The Observer spent three days monitoring Maldon’s Longwick Farm facility on the northern bank of the Blackwater Estuary, outside the town. During that time, four lorries were seen delivering bags containing roughly 12 tons of salt each. The bags carried the branding of K+S, the German mining group and one of the world’s biggest salt producers.
After being approached by the newspaper, Maldon Salt updated its website last Wednesday to explain the “salt-on-salt” process for the first time.
The company’s website now says: “The water is settled and filtered, then prepared as brine using our long-established salt-on-salt process, in which natural, ancient sea salt forms part of the brine-making, to enrich the seawater with natural minerals.”
Andrea Sella, a professor of chemistry at University College London, said that once salt from two different sources had been mixed, it would be impossible to distinguish or separate them.
Maldon Salt is produced from seawater drawn from the Blackwater Estuary when tidal conditions and salinity are considered optimal
TV chef Shivi Ramoutar said Maldon Sea Salt was the one item she would always pack when travelling abroad
Maldon Sea Salt is renowned for its distinctive pyramid-shaped flakes
Andrew Fielding, co-author of The Salt Industry, said the salt-on-salt technique was traditional but should be clearly disclosed when used in modern food production.
The family-owned brand’s signature pyramid-shaped flakes are created through the “careful control of temperature, time and movement” as seawater brine is heated and evaporated in open pans.
In April, TV chef Shivi Ramoutar told The Mail on Sunday’s You magazine that Maldon Sea Salt was the one item she always took with her when travelling overseas.
Company accounts for the year ending March 2025 show that revenue rose by 16.5 per cent to £39.2 million. Operating profit reached nearly £12 million, an increase of 1.7 per cent from the previous year.
Founded in 1882, the company announced plans earlier this year to expand its Longwick Farm facility in response to rising demand, particularly from overseas markets.
Essex Trading Standards, with support from the Food Standards Agency, investigated the site in 2019 and 2020. Officials found no regulatory breaches, noting that there was no legal definition distinguishing one grade of salt from another.
In Canada, however, labelling rules prohibit mined salt from being sold as “sea salt”. As a result, some Maldon Sea Salt packaging in the country has been changed to read Maldon Salt.
Maldon Salt rejected any suggestion that customers were being misled.
A spokesman said: “Maldon is a heritage brand and the custodians of the ancient craft of salt making for 144 years.
“Our method and techniques are part of that heritage. Rock salt is ancient sea salt that is added to seawater, which makes Maldon 100% sea salt flakes.
“It is this long-established method that gives Maldon its distinctive flakes, along with the same taste and unique texture that cooks, chefs and fans have enjoyed for generations.
“Maldon Salt’s products and labelling comply with all applicable food-safety and labelling legislation.
“At its heart, Maldon Salt is a story of place, craft and legacy — and that is why it is loved by chefs and consumers around the world.”
An Essex Trading Standards spokesman said: “Essex Trading Standards fully investigated allegations provided to it by the FSA in 2019 and concluded at that time that no further action was required.”
K+S said it supplied salt to the UK from sites across Europe but declined to comment on deliveries to individual customers.
