As a health inspector for over 20 years, I am astounded by the lack of awareness that food safety controls are based on science and not on individual inspectors' personal fears and bad moods. Botulism control is based on some of the following facts: botulinum spores are commonly found in soil and on vegetable surfaces, botulinum grows in low or no oxygen envt., botulism has high virulence. (Virulence is a technical term for the fact that a high number of botulism victims end up dead (like Listeriosus of raw milk fame), in contrast to other food borne illnesses like Staph or Campyllobacter.) When considering the fact that botulinum grows slowly, and food borne illnesses whack people more often with weak immune systems, such as the elderly, the ill, and the very young, the food producer may have just been lucky that the product never created a problem, or the very real option that a problem was never narrowed down to the product.
As to the argument that old time recipes have been made for centuries, as in this case, (I am a bit of a foodie and Italian), the big difference is that many products were never made for mass production and or to stick around on shelves for long periods of time, and if so, any data, let alone food safety data, is unavailable for historic food products. In fact, the link between bacteria and illness was scientifically proven by Koch as late as the late 1800's. Another fact is that the CDC's data shows that outbreaks over the last 50 years are fewer, involve much higher number of victims and are more often associated with mass production and distribution of food. My health dept. receives notices of food recalls at least once a week.
In the case of botulism and fresh garlic in oil, it's considered so risky that acidification is required nationwide. In California, there is a state lab that specializes in evaluating botulism safety for commercial operations. (It's funded by taxes to keep cost to businesses low and is considered a public service.) I would recommend that producers contact their State health depts. and work with them to identify any and all options available for the canning and sale of any low acid food - including acidification, using dried ingredients, temperature control, flash heating (called a "kill step"). The majority of us inspectors truly focus on how to sell food safely and do not approach their jobs as stopping people from making a living. And surprise surprise we don't always think alike, just don't get me started. However, I'll finish with the following consideration of the implication that "life has it's many risks" argument that we inspectors hear often. When it comes to death, the public, the politicians and the members of responsible industry itself does not tolerate "a little death."
In my experience, the difference between various salts has little to do with flavor, once you've moved beyond iodized table salt and bulk kosher salt, and assuming we aren't talking about salts that are flavored by additions like herbs or smoke during processing.
So limiting the discussion to natural, high quality finishing salts, the differences are mainly texture and color. Some salts, like Maldon, are flaky, while others are large pyramids or cubes, and others tend to a small grain size and hold on to a bit of moisture. Each of these textures can bring something special to a finished dish. For example, flaky Maldon adds a delightful crunch, while another salt might adhere better to a French fry.
Color, like the pink salt you mention, is used pretty much for the visual interest. And there is nothing wrong with that. Simply save it for a dish where it will be noticeable. For example, those pink grains would look amazing on a chocolate truffle, or a savory meringue.
If anyone thinks they can actually taste the difference among unflavored finishing salts, I'd challenge them to do a triangle test with those salts dissolved in water (in equal amounts by weight) so that texture and color isn't confusing the issue.
Best Answer
That's our brand "Home Curing UK" or "Surfy's". The colouring used at that time was a natural colouring. Unfortunately the colour deteriorates over time due to the action of light and the nitrites, however the loss of colour does NOT in any way affect the efficacy of the product, 100% guaranteed.