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Frequently Asked
Questions about Iodised Salt
1.Question What is iodised
salt?
Answer Iodised salt is common salt to which
very small quantity of an iodine compound is added. Iodised salt looks, tastes and
smells exactly like common salt and it is to be used in the same way.
2.Question What is iodine?
Answer Iodine is a natural element which is
essential to human life. Some of the most vital functions of the human body
such as proper development of brain and body and maintenance of body
temperature depend upon a steady supply of iodine.
3.Question Why is iodine so
essential for human health?
Answer Iodine is essential for the normal
growth, development and functioning of both the brain and body. A lack of
iodine can cause iodine deficiency disorders. Iodine is particularly essential
during early childhood, puberty, pregnancy and lactation. A woman who has
deficient iodine nutriture is likely to produce a child with compromised
physical and mental development. If left untreated, the child’s mental and
physical health can worsen as he grows older.
4.Question What is the role of
iodine in human body?
Answer Iodine is an essential component of
the thyroid hormones i.e. thyroxine (T4) and tri-iodothyronine (T3).
5.Question How much iodine
does a person normally need? Are additional amounts of iodine safe in normal
adults?
Answer The average daily requirement of an
adult is 150 micrograms a day. The average requirement of iodine in different
age groups is depicted in Table II.
Iodine has a relatively
wide margin of safety. Acute and chronic
toxicity studies with sodium iodate have been carried out. Results of these long-term experiments of
administration to man and to animal of doses comparable to those which would be
used in prophylaxis programme have failed to produce any toxic signs.
6.Question From where do we
normally get iodine?
Answer Iodine is present as its salts in the
soil and water. Normal requirement comes from food grown on soil with adequate
iodine. But when the soil of any area lacks iodine,the crops grown on such soil
too are deficient in iodine. Consequently, those people who live in iodine -
deficient areas and eat locally grown food items regularly, do not get their daily
requirement of this essential element.
7.Question Are there any
special foods which are rich in Iodine?
Answer Except for certain types of sea weed
there are no foods that are rich in iodine. All foods derive their iodine from
the soil on which they grow. If the soil is poor in iodine, the foods grown on
it will also be low in iodine. Contrary to the general belief sea water is not
a rich source of iodine. Sea water contains about 0.05 mg/liter (0.05 ppm) of
iodine. Only the specific variety of sea
weeds located near coral reef have inherent biological capacity to concentrate
iodine from the sea water. The reef fish which thrives on this variety of sea
weeds is rich in iodine. Thus, populations consuming a specific type of sea
weeds and reef fish have high intake of iodine, as is the case in
8.Question Are all sea foods
rich in iodine?
Answer It is wrongly believed that all sea
foods are rich in iodine. It is also wrong to say that salt made from sea water
is rich in iodine. All sea animals do not have the ability to concentrate
iodine. Only sea weeds located near coral reef have the inherent biological
ability to concentrate iodine. The reef fish which feed on these sea weeds
are rich source of iodine as compared to
the deep sea water fish. In fish, thyroid gland is located in the head, which
is rich in iodine as compared to the rest of the parts of the fish. The
consumption of fish after cutting the head does not therefore supply enough
iodine (The head of the fish is usually
not consumed by people).
9.Question What happens if a
person does not get enough iodine?
Answer A number of physical and mental
disorders, some serious, some mild, result from iodine deficiency. The most
visible and easily recognizable sign of iodine deficiency is goitre (goitre is
an enlarged thyroid gland). Iodine
deficiency in diet leads to health disorders like goitre, hypothyroidism,
mental retardation, growth retardation, reproductive impairment, and decreased
child survival.
10.Question What is a Goitre?
Answer A goitre is a swelling of the neck
caused by an enlarged thyroid gland. When
the body does not get enough iodine, the thyroid gland increases in
size. Not all goitres are visible, particularly
in the early stages when it can be detected only by palpation.
11.Question What are Iodine
Deficiency Disorders (IDD)?
Answer Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD)
form a spectrum of abnormalities which affect every stage of life. The
following table summarises IDD:
The Spectrum
of Iodine Deficiency Disorders
Stage in
life Effects
Fetus Abortions
Still
births
Congenital
Anomalies
Increased
Perinatal Mortality
Increased
Infant Mortality
Neurological
Cretinism:
-
mental deficiency
-
deaf-mutism
-
spastic diplegia
-
squint
Myxedematous
cretinism:
-
mental deficiency
-
dwarfism
Psychomotor
defects
Neonate Neonatal goitre
Neonatal
hypothyroidism
Child
and Goitre
Juvenile
hypothyroidism
Adolescent Impaired
mental function
Retarded
physical development
Adult Goitre with its complications
Hypothyroidism
Impaired
mental function
Reference: Tiwari BK, Ray I, Malhotra RL. Policy
Guidelines on National Iodine Deficiency Disorders Control Programme. Nutrition
and IDD Cell. Directorate of Health Services. Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare, Government of
12.Question Why does a child
become a Cretin?
Answer A baby growing in the mother’s womb
needs a regular supply of iodine for the normal growth and development of its
brain and body. Only the mother’s body can provide this essential iodine. If
the mother is iodine deficient, the foetus too is deprived of iodine. If the
woman’s iodine deficiency is severe, the child’s brain and body development is
permanently stunted and he becomes a cretin, who is unable to walk, talk or
think normally. If the mother’s deficiency is minor, the child will still be
affected, even though he may look normal. The damage caused to his brain usually shows up in later years of life as
poor school performance.
13.Question Can a Cretin
child be cured?
Answer No, cretinism is permanent and
incurable. It cannot be cured but it can be easily prevented by regular
consumption of iodised salt by pregnant mothers.
14.Question Why is iodine added
to salt?
Answer Salt, is consumed by all the people
every day, on an average, in the amount of 10g per day. If this salt is
iodised, then the entire population will
consume the required amount of iodine.
15.Question Can iodised salt be
used like common salt?
Answer Yes, iodised salt can be used in
cooking or at the table as common salt.
16.Question Is it true to say
that iodine deficiency is prevalent in hilly regions? Are people living in
plains and coastal areas not prone to iodine deficiency?
Answer No. Iodine deficiency is widely
prevalent not only in hilly regions but also in the plains and even coastal
areas of our country. Surveys conducted by the Government of
17.Question Does sea salt have
sufficient quantity of iodine to meet our daily iodine requirement.
Answer No, sea salt does not contain
adequate iodine. It contains only 0.28 ppm of iodine.
18.Question If a person
lives in an area which is not iodine
deficient, can extra iodine in the salt be harmful?
Answer Our body needs only a small amount of
iodine to function normally. If this iodine is available through food to the
body, additional quantities consumed will be excreted along with urine. About
90% of iodine consumed is eventually excreted in the urine.
19.Question Why there is no
option for iodised and non iodised salt in our country?
Answer In India, majority of districts
surveyed (235 out of 275) have been found to be endemic for iodine deficiency.
It is technically, administratively, financially and operationally neither
feasible nor cost effective to supply two types of salt separately to the
iodine deficient and iodine non- deficient districts in the country. From 1962
to 1984, an attempt was made to supply only iodised salt to IDD endemic
districts but the results were highly unsatisfactory.
20.Question Is excess of iodine
intake harmful?
Answer A safe daily intake of iodine has
been estimated to be 1000 micrograms.
When iodised salt is consumed the daily iodine intake will be in the range of
150 to 300 µg of iodine. This quantity of iodine intake is 3 to 6 times less than the safe upper limit of iodine
intake.
About 90% of iodine
consumed is eventually excreted in the urine.
21.Question Does the dietary
consumption of iodine cause allergy?
Answer No. To date, there has been no report
of allergy to iodine when it is consumed in physiological levels. In response
to general appeal in the Annals of Allergy in 1974 to report cases of allergy
to iodine, no case has ever been reported.
22.Question Can iodised salt
cause goitre?
Answer No, only a very large dose of iodine
2,00,000 micrograms can lead to “Iodide Goitre” and very rarely cause
hypothyroidism. This is 1300 times more than the average intake of an
individual consuming iodised salt.
23.Question Can a salt iodization
programme lead to increase in thyroid diseases?
Answer In some countries where there was
severe iodine deficiency, a sudden supplementation of high quantity of iodine
in daily diet of the population has led to minimal and mild increase in
occurrence of thyrotoxicosis. This has
been observed in middle aged people who had long history of goitre because of
prolonged iodine deficiency and who were suddenly exposed to increased amount
of iodine. This is called “Iodine Induced Hyperthyroidism”. Usually such a
condition is self limiting and not very common.
There is no evidence
that iodised salt has caused increase in occurrence of thyroiditis or thyroid
cancer.
24.Question Can iodised salt be
stored like common salt?
Answer The iodine in the salt can be
destroyed by exposure to moisture. Therefore, it is important to store the
iodised salt in an airtight and moisture proof container.
25.Question How much of iodine is
lost from point of production of salt to the household level consumption?
Answer Improper packaging, transportation in
open trucks and railway wagons and storage in area exposed directly to
atmospheric conditions are main factors responsible for loss of iodine. These
losses vary from 20% to 40%, depending
on the storage conditions, type of packaging and transportation used.
26.Question Has Universal Salt Iodization resulted in increase of price
of salt?
Answer It is important to note here that one
must always compare like with like. In terms of price difference, one must
compare the price difference between loose common salt and loose iodised salt.
Similarly one must compare packed common salt with fxpacked iodised salt.
At salt production
centres, iodised salt is available in loose crystal form at about 45 paise per
kg. and powdered iodised salt at about Rs.1/- per kg. Transportation charges by
rail/road and whole sellers/ retailers margin form a big share in deciding the
final retail price. The retail prices of iodised salt per kg even in remotest
areas of country are as follows:-
Crystal iodised salt loose Rs.1.50
- 2.00
Powdered iodised salt loose Rs.2.00 - 2.50
Powdered iodised salt packed Rs.2.50 - 4.00
Refined iodised salt (Branded) Rs.5.50 & Above.
Only a small quantity of
iodised salt is required daily viz.
10 g per day (300 g/person/month i.e. 1.5 kg for family of 5 members). The monthly expenditure of a family
of 5 persons will be about Rs.2/- to 4/-. This is a small price for the
enormous benefits a family gets from being free from IDD.
27.Question Does iodization
increase the price of salt?
Answer The additional expenditure of iodine
in salt iodization is 4.5 to 5 paise per
kg. Other expenses like power, labour etc., work out to 5 paise per kg.
Thus, if common salt is
iodised in the crystal form i.e., without crushing or powdering and sold
in loose, the price would increase only by about 10 paise per kg.
Cost of Salt Rs.350/-
per M.T.*
Cost of Iodisation Rs.100/-
per M.T.
Cost of bags Rs.150/-
per M.T.
Freight Rs.450/-
per M.T.
Total Rs.1050/-
per M.T.
or Rs.
1.05 per kg.
*MT
: Metric Tonnes
28.Question Does the nation wide
ban on sale of non-iodised salt for edible purposes affect the small producers
of salt?
Answer No. There are about 1600 small
producers in the organised sector and 6500 in the unorganized sector whose
individual holding does not exceed 10 acres. The ban order does not in any way interfere with
their traditional method of manufacture of salt or with their trading
practices.
29.Question Will salt Iodisation
render thousands of salt labourers jobless?
Answer No, Iodisation of salt has created more employment opportunities by
employing people in process of iodization, crushing, powdering and packing of
salt.
30.Question Is salt iodisation
benefiting big and multinational companies?
Answer In India as on 31st March, 1998,
there are 809 salt iodization plants
with the annual capacity of producing 115 lakh tonnes of salt. The details of
them are as follows:-
Small
common salt manufacturers = 256
(upto
10 acres)
Medium
common salt manufacturers = 87
(1
to 100 acres)
Other
common salt manufacturers = 122
(above
100 acres)
Traders = 320
Refineries = 24
Total = 809
There is not even a
single multinational Company in salt production. However, one multi national
company is providing marketing assistance to some salt refineries. The country
is self sufficient in production of common salt. Iodisation plants are also
fabricated indigenously.
31.Question Is potassium iodate a
poison?
Answer Potassium iodate is totally safe in
quantity consumed. The average salt consumption in India is 10 g per capita per
day. At the manufacturing level 50 ppm (50 mg per kg of salt) of KIO3
is added. Consumption of 10 g of iodised salt will provide a maximum of 500 mcg of KIO3. This quantity is
60,000 times less than lethal dose low of KIO3.
32.Question What is the
relationship between goitrogens and IDD?
Answer There are areas where consumption of
few substances known as goitrogens in staple diet affects the proper
utilization of iodine by the thyroid gland. For example, in population who have
cassava as staple diets, there is an overload of thiocyanate which has a
goitrogenic action. However, the adverse
effect of goitrogens can be overcome
by an appropriate increase in the salt
iodization levels.
33.Question How to find out
whether adequate iodine is present in salt?
Answer Using a field kit, level of iodine in
salt could be checked. A drop of test
solution when added to iodised salt turns it blue depending on the intensity of
colour, using the colour comparision chart given on the kit, the approximate
range of iodine could be found out.
