27+ Mineral Halite Uses Background. It is used as a sweetener in meals. Salt water is lower than the freezing point of pure water.
Halite is pretty soft (2.5 on mohs scale) and gets easily scratched.
Another property geologists may use to identify minerals is a property related to density called specific gravity. For practical and sanitary reasons, you probably should not test the taste of a mineral sample by directly if you do not like the idea of 'tasting' mineral samples, halite's other characteristics can be used to distinguish it. No oxygen needed for these minerals that use cl, f, br, and i to bind with cations: Halite is pretty soft (2.5 on mohs scale) and gets easily scratched.