Weekly Health Tip: Sea Salt

Last week, USA Today published this interesting article on the new Wendy's french fry.

For those of you that haven't heard, Wendy's is coming out with a new french fry in an attempt to stem the flow of their customer base to the ever-popular McDonald's. This new fry is called their "Natural-Cut Fries with Sea Salt."

Everywhere, sea salt is becoming more popular. Without a doubt, everyone agrees that sea salt delivers on the taste, and more so than regular table salt. And consumers definitely enjoy the taste. Sea salt products have exponentially grown in the past few years. 

But sea salt, while often touted as a "healthier" choice, can actually be the opposite. 

Dietitian Marion Nestle says that sea salt "tastes the same, costs more, and has the same sodium [as regular table salt]."

And in the case of Wendy's, "the new fries have more sodium: 270 milligrams per small order, up from 180. The large has 630, up from 460."

Don't be fooled. Lesson to take away: always check the sodium content on items containing sea salt - they may have the same or more sodium than their table salt counterpart. And ask yourself - does it really make it taste better?