Adding iodized salt in everyday meals is the simplest, cheapest, and most effective way to prevent iodine deficiency disorders (IDDs).
Iodized salt contains iodine which is needed to produce thyroid hormones by the thyroid gland.
National Nutrition Council (NNC) Region 3 Nutrition Officer Angelita Pasos explained that these hormones are important in the growth, development, and control of metabolic processes in the body.
“This [iodine] will address micronutrient malnutrition. This is also to fight iodine deficiency disorders,” she said.
Iodine deficiency is claimed to be the cause of stunted growth and mental retardation among children; miscarriage or birth of abnormal babies in pregnant women; and of deaf, mutism, and goiter.
Its adverse effects on newborns may include neuro-developmental deficits and intrauterine growth restriction, impaired cognitive development, cretinism, or severe hypothyroidism.
Pasos emphasized that to get their daily iodine requirement, an average adult must consume about 150 micrograms of iodine. This is equivalent to 150 particles as small as the head of a sewing pin.
Pregnant women, meanwhile, need 200 micrograms daily.
“Fish, and seafoods like shrimp and crabs already contain iodine but this lessens when the food is being cooked as it is easy to evaporate,” she explained.
Pasos suggested that iodized salt is better to be used in dipping, and not much in cooking. When cooking, it should be placed when the food is about to be served.
When buying salt, consumers should check for the Sangkap Pinoy diamond seal to ensure that it has proper iodine content.
Iodized salt in households should be stocked in a non-transparent, dark container, and away from heat so that its iodine content will not lessen.
To eliminate IDDs, the NNC beefed up its initiatives in line with Republic Act No. 8172, An Act for Salt lodization Nationwide (ASIN Law) which focuses on national salt iodization.
The agency leads the region’s Bantay Asin Task Force in the conduct of salt testing and monitoring activity in sample households, market, sari-sari stores and groceries using an iodine checker machine.
“We want the salt here in the region to be iodized by means of iodine so that it will become more nutritious. This is to secure the nutrition of the people, especially young children, and pregnant and lactating women,” Pasos said.
The aim is not only for the presence of iodine in the salt, but also the correct measure of iodine which is 30 to 70 parts per million.
Pasos encouraged local government units (LGUs) in the region to implement policies in accordance with the ASIN Law. “LGUs will be the ones to help us in the promotion of the use of iodized salt. We can help them in the conduct of seminars and webinars, we do salt testing, we do orientations about the importance of iodine in our food,” she pressed.
She also urged LGUs to purchase the iodine checker and iodine solution equipment to inspect the salt being sold in their localities.
Under the ASIN Law, the Philippines targets to have nine out of 10 households using iodized salt with sufficient iodine. However, a 2021 survey conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology reflected that only about three out of 10 Filipino households consumed iodized salt with sufficient iodine. (CLJD/JLDC-PIA 3)
