Pacific Sea Salt is harvested from the pristine waters of the great southern oceans. Currents sweep up the southern east coast of New Zealand and into the solar salt field at the top of the South island. The sea water is evaporated by the natural process of sun and wind for 13-22 months. At the end of each Summer, Pacific Sea Salt is carefully gathered to retain the balance of minerals and trace elements naturally present in sea salt. Salt is a natural occurring chemical created by Nature and cannot be technically be organic because it is a composite of natural trace elements. This salt is tested much the same way that fruit, vegetables, and grains are tested for pesticides and foreign pollutants. The ocean water is tested, while the salt is drying (13 months) it is tested and also when it's packed. It is this testing process that enables this salt to be certified for organic input as pure to its natural state without impurities and still retaining all of the natural trace elements. Most salts cannot even begin this process as the ocean water in most of the world is polluted and has to be altered to remove impurities.