About 2.5 tons of industrial salt, which some people may have been trying to sell as table salt, was seized by the Beijing mercantile enforcement supervision office recently according to Beijing Times. An official from the office refused to reveal any details about the incident.
The seized industrial salt was in packages bearing the brand of the Beijing Salt Industry Corporation. A kilogram package of the seized salt was reportedly selling for 1.5 yuan, half the usual market price.
"Our company stopped producing one-kilogram packages of salt in May 2008 but some unscrupulous sellers still use our old packaging for industrial salt," said an employee surnamed Shi from the Beijing Salt Industry Corporation.
"We are the only salt company in Beijing. That's why those sellers use our packaging," he added.
Shi also said that if people eat illegally sold salt, which might contain sodium nitrate, they run the risk of possible life-threatening poisoning.
Beijing Times reported that a citizen surnamed Zheng brought some industrial salt passed off as table salt in the Lize wholesale market in Fengtai district in December. Staff from the Beijing mercantile enforcement supervision office caught those responsible.
Zheng said that the "fake salt" he bought was variable in size, wetter than salt sold in the super market and tasted bad.
A seller who spoke on condition of anonymity told Beijing Times that much of the illegal salt seized had likely come from the Jinxiudadi wholesale market in Haidian district and most purchasers were from restaurants or were migrant workers.
He said illegal salt retailers often try to minimize the risk of getting caught by not selling more than 500 packages to any one customer.
The factory price for one ton of salt is usually 400 yuan to 500 yuan.
Salt companies sell wholesale at 1,200 yuan to 1,500 yuan per ton and the market price for consumers can be as high as 2,000 yuan per ton.
The high profit margin means there will likely always be traders willing to risk selling illegal salt.
"Customers can tell if they are being scammed from the quality of the packaging on the salt. Buying salt in a supermarket is the best choice," he said.