thumb|A pocket tin containing small salmiak liquorice pastilles in the traditional diamond shape. Pastilles are usually of the hard liquorice lozenge variety.
thumb|Salmiak liquorice candy in the traditional diamond shape. These candies are usually of the soft to medium-soft liquorice variety.
thumb|Salmiakki candy bags
thumb|Salmiak lollipops and powders
Salty liquorice, also known as salmiak liquorice, salmiac liquorice or (in Finland) , is a variety of liquorice flavoured with salmiak salt (sal ammoniac; ammonium chloride), and is a common confection found in the Nordic countries, Benelux, and northern Germany.
Salmiak salt gives salty liquorice an astringent, salty taste, akin to that of tannins—a characteristic of red wines, which adds bitterness and astringency to the flavour. Consuming salmiak liquorice can stimulate either a savoury or non-savoury palate and response. Finnish author Jukka Annala speculates that salty liquorice has its origins in pharmacy stores that manufactured their own cough medicine. Where and when ammonium chloride and liquorice were first combined to produce salty liquorice is unclear, but by the 1930s it was produced in Finland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands as a pastille. Although the European Union now regulates the use of ammonium chloride to 0.3% in most foodstuffs, there is no specific restriction for it in liquorice or ice cream. At a level of up to 7.99% ammonium chloride, salmiak pastilles are considered a "traditionally-applied medicine to assist expectoration in the airways".
An antibacterial effect can be attributed to the neutralization of the slightly acidic ammonium chloride (pH about 5.5) by the relatively alkaline saliva (pH about 7), When the ingredient content of ammonium chloride (salmiak salt) was between 4.49% and 7.99%, the declaration "extra strong" () was also required on packaging. More than 7.99% of ammonium chloride (salmiak salt) was not permitted in Germany at that point. Since then, the upper limit on ammonium chloride has been lifted.