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As far as foodies are concerned, relying only on a box of iodized table salt to flavour meals is akin to asking for ketchup with an order of steak. The popularity of sea salt, Himalayan salt, kosher salt, fleur de sel and numerous other gourmet varieties has soared in recent years, becoming a must-have in the kitchens of professional and amateur chefs alike.

Although all types of salt are made up mainly of sodium chloride, fans of gourmet and artisan salts swear by their distinctive texture and flavour, often attributed to the variety of trace elements found in salts cultivated from the sea or mountainous areas.

Another major factor that draws people to gourmet salts, despite the higher price, is the fact many are unrefined and therefore left in a more natural state than standard table salt.

But most gourmet salts aren't iodized. In Canada, iodine is added to table salt in order to prevent iodine deficiency, which can lead to a variety of health problems, including goiter. That means people who rely heavily on gourmet or artisan salts may potentially run the risk of health complications due to iodine deficiency. However, most medical experts agree that since so much iodized table salt is used to manufacture many of our packaged and processed foods, it would be challenging for a person to become iodine deficient, even if they never used iodized table salt when cooking.

There's also virtually the same amount of sodium in gourmet salt as regular table salt.