If there’s something you need to know about salt, Utah would be a good place to look for answers this week.
The 10th World Salt Symposium is convening June 19-21 in Park City and will feature nearly 100 presentations from around the globe covering all topics related to salt. Starting in the 1960s, people from around the world have gathered to share information on the health benefits and uses of salt, salt mining practices and solar salt production. The last such meeting was held in Beijing, China, in 2009. Organizers say the extended period between these conferences ensures far-reaching and inclusive technical content. Over 500 international salt experts are registered to attend the three-day conference
Organized and hosted by the Naples, Florida-based Salt Institute in cooperation with several other salt organizations from around the world, the World Salt Symposium focuses on the latest research and development in the international salt sector. It covers a wide spectrum of subjects, embracing the science, engineering, technology, economics and history of all forms of sodium chloride salt and their uses. As a broad international platform, the 2018 World Salt Symposium will enable researchers, producers and users of salt to become acquainted with the latest developments and technologies in this important industrial area, the institute said.
Four of the world’s top scientists on cardiovascular health outcomes will gather for a frank discussion on salt and health. They will focus on the need for large, randomized, controlled trials on the impact of salt on health outcomes before any population-wide sodium reduction recommendation can be made. The panel will include Dr. Michael H. Alderman, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Dr. Andrew Mente, McMaster University; Dr. David A. McCarron, University of California Davis; and Dr. Jan A. Staessen of the University of Leuven in Belgium.
Other topics to be discussed at the meeting will include the importance of iodized salt for thyroid health; new technology in winter maintenance for environmental road salting; and new techniques in various types of salt production including mine safety. Experts will present on issues ranging from the history of salt production in the ancient world to maintaining the integrity of modern salt caves used to store the U.S .Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
“We are pleased to bring the World Salt Symposium back to the United States and to host this important event,” said Lori Roman, president of the Salt Institute. “The Salt Institute is also happy to announce that we have made our 55-year-old World Salt Symposia archive available on a new website that will serve as a permanent and public archive of all past and future papers presented at World Salt Symposia.”
The Salt Institute archives are available at www.worldsaltsymposium.org. Keynote sessions of the conference will be streamed live on the World Salt Symposium YouTube page (http://bit.ly/salt2018).