Sodium chloride, also known as salt, common salt, table salt or halite, is an ionic compound with the formula NaCl, representing equal proportions of sodium and chloride. Sodium chloride is the salt most responsible for the salinity of the ocean and of the extracellular fluid of many multicellular organisms. As the major ingredient in edible salt, it is commonly used as a condiment and food preservative.
Sea salt is salt produced from the evaporation of seawater. It is used in cooking and cosmetics. It is also called bay salt or solar salt. Like mineral salt, production of sea salt has been dated to prehistoric times. Generally more expensive than the more popular refined salt (table salt), some cooks believe it tastes better than salt from mines. However, there is little or no health benefit to using sea salt over table salt, as both are primarily sodium chloride.