On 28 July 2021 the FSSAI issued FAQ on the mandatory use of Iodised Salt in standardized products in which edible common salt is used.
Question: Whether use of Iodised Salt is mandatory in standardized products, which specify the use of Edible Common Salt?
Answer: As per the provisions of FSS (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations, 2011, sub-regulation 2.3.12: Restriction on sale of common salt “No person shall sell or offer or expose for sale or have in his premises for the purpose of sale, common salt for direct human consumption or for use as an ingredient in a food product unless the same is iodized.
Provided that common salt may be sold or exposed for sale or stored for sale for iodization, iron fortification, animal use, preservation not meant for direct consumption, for infant food products, manufacturing medicines and industrial use under proper label declarations, as specified in the provisions of regulation 2.4.4 of Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and labelling) Regulations, 2011.
The above provisions restrict the sale and consumption of common salt for direct human consumption or for use as an ingredient in a food product unless the same is iodized, except only for the specific exemptions as mentioned above.
Therefore, in the food product standards which specify the use of edible common salt as an ingredient, the edible common salt refers to Iodized Salt only.
Note: – The standards of Iodized Salt have been specified under Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations, 2018, wherein Salt shall have the same meaning as that of ‘Edible Common Salt’ defined and standardized under FSS (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 along with the laid down quality parameters specified therein.
Fortification of Salt with Iodine
Every year nine million pregnant women and eight million newly born children are at risk of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) in India. IDD comprise of a range of disorders including goitre, hypothyroidism, cretinism, brain damage, intellectual disability, psychomotor defects, hearing and speech impairment, abortion and stillbirths. Intelligent Quotient (IQ) Children born in iodine deficient areas have 13.5 IQ points less than those in Iodine sufficient areas A majority of the consequences of IDD are invisible and irreversible, but at the same time, are totally preventable. IDD constitute the single largest cause of preventable brain damage worldwide.
IDDs are linked to iodine deficient soil. Due to glaciations, flooding, rivers changing course and deforestation the iodine present in the top soil is constantly leached. This leaching of the top soil where iodine is present, leads to deficiency of iodine in crops grown on iodine deficient soil with consequently low iodine in the diet for livestock and humans. In India, due to lack of iodine in the soil and therefore in the diet leads to risk of IDD in the entire population of the country and around 264 million people are at high risk. India has the largest number of children born vulnerable to IDD.
This deficiency of iodine in the diet can be addressed by fortification of salt i.e., adding iodine to salt. Salt has been identified as an effective vehicle for iodine because it is consumed almost daily and universally. Currently, 92% of the population consumes iodised salt in India. Adequate salt iodisation in India has saved 4 billion IQ points in the last two decades.
Source: https://ffrc.fssai.gov.in/commodity?commodity=double-fortified-salt
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