Iron and iodine fortified salt - the next breakthrough for tackling iodine and iron deficiency in the country.
Double Fortified Salt (DFS) is an innovative new fortified food product - delivering small but crucial amounts of iodine and iron to human beings through their diet. In general, DFS formulations are intended to provide 100% of daily dietary iodine requirement, and ~30 to 60% of daily dietary iron requirement. Dual fortification of salt with iodine and iron could be a sustainable approach to combat iodine and iron deficiencies. India's National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) has pioneered the development of double fortified salt (DFS). NIN has also taken the initiative to transfer the technology to iodized salt manufacturers in the country and provides continuous quality control support. The Micronutrient Initiative has developed DFS with encapsulated iron. In 2009, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has endorsed the addition of iron in double fortified salt at 0.8-1.1 mg/g of salt.
Fortification of Salt with Iodine
Every year nine million pregnant women and eight million newborns are at risk of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) in India. 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, in turn, leads to deficiency of iodine in crops grown on iodine deficient soil with consequently low iodine in the diet for livestock and humans. 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.
Iodine deficiency disorders (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.
In India, due to lack of iodine in the soil and therefore in the diet, all1. 2 billion people are at risk of IDD and around 264 million people are at high risk. India has the largest number of children born vulnerable to IDD. 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.
Tata Salt played a pioneering role in iodization of edible salt in the 80s which eradicated goiter and Iodine Deficiency Disorder in India. Since salt is an excellent micro-nutrient carrier, Tata Salt took up the challenge of addressing the Iron deficiency led anemia. Working with NIN, Double Fortified Salt was developed containing Iron and Iodine in 2012. Since then, the product was piloted under the name 'Tata Salt Plus'. In 2015, 'Tata Salt Plus' was launched nationally backed by strong TV campaign, educating the masses about the benefits of Iron. Currently, 'Tata Salt Plus' reaches about 6 L households across the country.
In collaboration with the University of Toronto, Canada and assistance from TATA TRUSTS (The India Nutrition Initiative) and IDRC, Canada, Wella Nutrologicals has set up a state of the art five metric tonne per day plant in Jaipur, Rajasthan, for the manufacture of encapsulated ferrous fumarate (EFF) premix for producing double fortified salt (iron and iodine). This premix is very nicely quoted and then encapsulated so that there is no exposure of iron and also the iodine in salt remains absolutely safe.
The premix produced at Wella has been procured by big salt manufacturers and used for double fortified salt in Uttar Pradesh and now in Jharkhand. A total of approximately 30,000 metric tonnes of double fortified salt has been produced with the premix from Wella.
Some private sector food companies are in talks with Wella to launch their brand of double fortified salt using our premix.
Sahayamatha Salt Refinery Pvt. Ltd, are the largest producers of common salt, refined iodised free flow salt, double fortified salt and low sodium salt in South India, having two plants at Veppalodia and Kalloorani, Tuticorin district. Sahayamatha Salt Refinery have signed an MOU with NIN for DFS on 5/12/2016 with plant capacity for DFS free flow at 10,000 MTonnes per annum and DFS crystal at 10,000 M Tonnes per annum. They are marketing DFS in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
