Smart Salt Helping to Reduce Iodine Deficiency in Indonesia Salt is a curious and versatile substance. It comes from the sea and sometimes from deep in the earth. Throughout history, salt routes have crisscrossed the globe and salt has even been used as currency. Salt has been, and still is, highly prized for its abilities to season and preserve food, as well as for its antiseptic benefits to health. Not only that, but apparently salt can be smart, stupid and false. Or at the very least, certain kinds of salt can help makeyou smarter. Iod ine def ici ency is the lea din g pre ven table cau se of bra in dam age and it can significantly lower the IQ of whole populations. The most severe impacts of iodine deficiency occur during fetal development and in the first few years of life. Today almost everyone in the world uses salt, and it’s a good thing considering how se ri ous iodi ne def icie ncy can be and how mu ch it ca n ne gati ve ly impact hea lt h. Bec aus e sal t is common ly co ns um ed all ov er th e wor ld , even in impoverished areas, it is an ideal vehicle to carry iodine. Adding iodine to salt provides protection from brain damage due to iodine deficiency for whole populations, helping people and countries reach their full potential. Indonesia’s Basic Health Survey 2007 showed that only 23% of households in Bima and 28% of households in th e Nusa Te ngga ra Bar at Province were consuming adequately iodi zed sa lt , meanin g iodi ne def icie ncy was a se ri ous problem in Indonesia. Much of the problem was due to the widespread leakage ofraw non -io diz ed sal t and ina deq uat ely iod ize d sal t fr om Bima int o consumermarkets across the country. In 20 08 , the Indus tr y and Trade Of fice of Bima District and the Micronutrient Initiative (MI) wo rked on a pilot pr ojec t to develo p technology to iodize all non-iodized raw salt in Bi ma. They pr ovided small salt pr oc essors wit h ap propr iate iodization facilitie s, iodization equipment and subsidized Potassium Iod ate (KIO3) needed in th e iodization process. Although iodine deficiency decreased after these steps, it was clear more work remained to be done.
