What is double fortified salt?

Salt in our country is being fortified with iron and iodine to tackle the iodine and iron deficiency. DFS or Double fortified salt is a fortified product that helps to deliver crucial amounts of iron and iodine to human beings through diet.

DFS formulations provide 100% of the daily dietary iodine requirement and 30-60 % of the daily dietary iron requirement. It helps to combat the iron and iodine deficiencies in our country. Iron is fortified at 0.8-1.1 ppm (mg/g of salt).

Why is the fortification of salt necessary with iodine?

• IDD (Iodine Deficiency Disorder): It comprises of a range of disorders that includes cretinism, hypothyroidism, goitre, brain damage, psychomotor defects, intellectual disability, abortion, hearing & speech impairment and stillbirths. The IQ that is the Intelligent Quotient of children that are born in areas deficient in iodine have 13.5 IQ points less than the ones in areas that have sufficient iodine. The consequences of IDD are irreversible but can be prevented.
• In India, 8 million newborns and 9 million pregnant women are at risk of IDD. It is linked to our soil which is deficient in iodine. Due to flooding, glaciations, deforestation, etc. the iodine content present in the topsoil is constantly leached. It leads to a soil deficient in iodine which is linked to iodine-deficient crops and that in turn leads to low levels of iodine in our diet.
• To address this problem of deficiency, salt is being fortified with iodine. It means that iodine is added to salt, which is consumed by everyone universally and daily.
• Iodisation of salt in India has been able to save 4 billion IQ points since the last two decades.
• In India, the soil lacks iodine, thus our diet lacks iodine which leads to putting our whole population at risk of IDD. Currently, only 92% of our population consumes salt that is iodised.
• Example: Patanjali salt, TATA salt plus, TNSC salt, Ankur, etc.