Maldon Sea Salt Flakes (8.5 oz box)

1. Ingredients 25% of the rating 5 of 5

   Sea salt flakes only, with no additives, per the maker’s page and spec sheet.

2. Independent testing 35% of the rating 3 of 5

   Lead below 5 ppb at two US labs, but a 2023 university study reported 8.4 mg/kg, the maker keeps its own report private, and microplastics were not conclusively identified.

3. Packaging 10% of the rating 2 of 5

   A cardboard box with a co-extruded poly liner, per the maker’s spec sheet; the polymer is not named.

4. Trust 15% of the rating 3 of 5

   A blacked-out lab report and a request for secrecy in 2023, since followed by a clean independent test. No recalls or Prop 65 notices found.

5. Value 15% of the rating 2 of 5

   About $13 a pound for the 8.5 oz box, the same as Jacobsen’s and more than three times Diamond Crystal’s. A finishing salt.

The rating, 3.3 of 5, is the weighted average of these scores. See how we rank salt & minerals and our standard.

• Thrive Market (opens in a new tab) approx. $6.89 for an 8.5 oz box (member price; listed at $7.61). A membership store; the page shows $6.89, “compare at $7.61”, and an add button on 2026-10-23. The maker’s US page links to Amazon and a store finder, not its own shop.
• Amazon (opens in a new tab) approx. $9 for an 8.5 oz (240 g) box ($8.99, about $17 a pound). Sold by Maldon Salt, the brand itself, and shipped by Amazon; the title says packaging may vary. This is the listing the maker’s own US page links to.

Prices as we saw them on October 23, 2026. They change often. These links carry no tracking code and earn us nothing.

1. Sea salt flakes (100%)

• Independent Lead Safe Mama, tested at Purity Laboratories (the site earns affiliate income; its fundraiser for this test raised $50 of $575) March 2025

  Tested Maldon Sea Salt Flakes (lot 2025-045, case 2503452; the box size is not stated), by ICP-MS on 25 March 2025: lead below 5 ppb, cadmium below 5 ppb, mercury below 5 ppb, arsenic below 10 ppb. One sample. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

• Independent Mamavation (EPA-certified lab, not named; the site earns affiliate income) May 2026

  Tested Maldon Sea Salt Flakes: lead below its reporting limit, arsenic 12.8 ppb, aluminum, cadmium and mercury not detected. It sits in the lowest-metals group, where lead was 45 ppb or less. Microplastics were not conclusively identified in any salt. One sample per brand. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

• Independent University of Messina, Italy (published in Toxics; no external funding) August 2023

  Tested ten gourmet salts bought in Messina in May 2022, each in triplicate, by ICP-MS after dissolving 5 g of salt in 100 mL of water with nitric acid. Lead in Maldon was 8.42 mg/kg, and every salt read 5.2 to 9.2 mg/kg; copper read 28 to 51 mg/kg in all of them. Mercury was 0.001 mg/kg. The paper describes no blank samples. The US results above are more than 1,000 times lower. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

• Maker’s own test Maldon (a report it says is dated 15 May 2023, work done in April 2023) May 2023

  Says it shows lead below 10 ppb in five batches. Maldon sent Lead Safe Mama a copy with almost every other line blacked out and asked that it not be published, so we have not seen it. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Is there lead in Maldon salt?

Two 2025 tests say no. Lead Safe Mama (opens in a new tab) found less than 5 ppb and Mamavation (opens in a new tab) found lead below its reporting limit. A 2018 community figure of 700 ppb was never confirmed. Each test covers one sample, so a later lot could differ.

What about the Italian study that found high lead?

A 2023 University of Messina study (opens in a new tab) reported 8.4 mg/kg in Maldon and said lead exceeded the legal maximum in all its salts. It found 5.2 to 9.2 mg/kg in every one of ten very different salts and copper of 28 to 51 mg/kg in all of them. It dissolved 5 g of each salt in 100 mL of water with nitric acid and read it by ICP-MS, and describes no blank samples. Mamavation’s lab found 61 to 135 ppb of lead in four Himalayan pink salts, against 5,520 ppb in Messina’s. That looks like a measurement problem, and the gap with the US labs is more than a thousandfold, but we cannot prove it. We scored testing a 3.

Why did Maldon black out its lab report?

We found no public explanation from Maldon. In 2023 it asked Lead Safe Mama to retract the 700 ppb figure, sent a report with all but the lead line blacked out, and told it not to share it. Lead Safe Mama called that odd (opens in a new tab), tested the salt itself in 2025 and found it clean.

Does sea salt carry microplastics?

It can. A 2018 study of 39 salt brands (opens in a new tab) found 0 to 1,674 particles per kg in sea salts (one outlier at 13,629). Maldon publishes no count, and Mamavation’s imaging could not identify plastic in any salt it tested.

Is the box plastic-free?

No. The maker’s spec sheet says its salt is packed in co-extruded poly liners inside cardboard cartons. The sheet is undated (the PDF was made in June 2022) and the maker’s US page says only “Packaging: Box”, so check the box you buy.

• One ingredient: sea salt flakes (100%), per the maker’s US page. Its spec sheet lists no additives and says the salt is made by evaporating purified seawater at Maldon, Essex.
• Two US labs found no lead above 5 ppb. Lead Safe Mama’s lab (Purity Laboratories) reported lead, cadmium and mercury below 5 ppb and arsenic below 10 ppb in March 2025. Mamavation’s lab found lead below its reporting limit, no cadmium, mercury or aluminum, and arsenic at 12.8 ppb.
• An old worry has not held up. A 700 ppb lead figure from 2018, passed to Lead Safe Mama by a volunteer, was never confirmed, and both 2025 tests found far less.

• A 2023 study by the University of Messina in Italy reported 8.4 mg/kg of lead in Maldon, more than 1,000 times the US results. It reported 5.2 to 9.2 mg/kg in all ten salts it tested, from rock salt to flakes, and Mamavation’s lab found about 40 to 90 times less lead in four Himalayan pink salts (61 to 135 ppb, against Messina’s 5,520 ppb). That points to a measurement problem rather than to the salts, but we cannot confirm it.
• In 2023 Maldon told Lead Safe Mama its lead was under 10 ppb, but sent a report with nearly every other line blacked out and asked that it not be published. Its spec sheet says an independent laboratory analyzes the salt regularly, and the heavy metals sheet it points to is not in the copy we found.
• The box is not plastic-free. The maker’s spec sheet says the salt is packed in co-extruded poly liners inside cardboard cartons.
• It costs about $13 a pound, so it suits finishing a dish, not everyday seasoning. Mamavation’s arsenic reading of 12.8 ppb is the highest of the three clean salts here.

1. Maldon Sea Salt Flakes 8.5oz product page (US). Maker’s page. Ingredients, origin, kosher and vegan; links to Amazon, no maker shop. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
2. Maldon Sea Salt specification details. Maker’s page. Undated spec sheet hosted by a retailer (the PDF was created in June 2022): purified seawater, no additives, regular analyses by an independent laboratory, co-extruded poly liners in cardboard cartons. The heavy metals sheet it points to is not included. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
3. Thrive Market: Maldon Sea Salt Flakes 8.5 oz. Independent source. $6.89 member price, $7.61 list, 23 Oct 2026; the page says 8.5 oz box and lists the ingredient as sea salt flakes. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
4. Amazon: Maldon Sea Salt Flakes, 8.5 oz (240 g). Independent source. $8.99 on 2026-10-23, sold by Maldon Salt and shipped by Amazon. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
5. Lead Safe Mama: Testing Maldon Sea Salt Flakes (Sept 2025). Test report. Purity Laboratories report, case 2503452. The site earns affiliate income. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
6. Lead Safe Mama: e-mail exchange with Maldon Salt (Sept 2023). Independent source. Maldon’s claim of lead under 10 ppb, the redacted report and the request not to publish it. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
7. Mamavation: Sea salt and Himalayan salt tested for heavy metals and microplastics. Test report. EPA-certified lab, one sample per brand. The site earns affiliate income. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
8. Di Salvo et al. (2023), Toxics: Gourmet table salts, the mineral composition showdown (PMID 37624210). Test report. University of Messina; ten salts including Maldon; lead 5.2 to 9.2 mg/kg in all of them. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
9. FDA enforcement reports: recalling firm Maldon. Certifier or regulator listing. Searched 23 Oct 2026: no records. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
10. California Attorney General: Prop 65 60-day notice search. Certifier or regulator listing. Searched by alleged violator on 23 Oct 2026: no notice for Maldon. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
11. Kim et al. (2018), Environmental Science & Technology: microplastics in food-grade salts (PMID 30285421). Independent source. 39 brands; 0 to 1,674 particles per kg in sea salts, one outlier at 13,629. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

• Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt (3 lb box) Salt only, no lead found at two independent labs, and about a third of the price per pound.
• Jacobsen Salt Co. Pure Kosher Sea Salt Clean in three independent tests across two years, at about $13 a pound. Out of stock at the maker on 23 Oct 2026.

• Minerals, Sodium, and What to Look For Article How sea salt differs from refined table salt, why iodine still matters, what the actual sodium-and-health evidence says, and how to choose a salt that supports rather than undermines your diet
• Thyroid Essential Article Why iodine deficiency is still widespread, how the thyroid depends on it, and practical ways to optimize intake
• Reducing Your Microplastic Exposure Article Practical steps to minimize microplastic intake from water, food, and everyday products