Investigation of iodine content in iodized salts distributed in Gorgan, 2016

Iodine is one of the most important essential micronutrients throughout life. Salt is the most important and inexpensive iodized foods in Iran. This study aims to investigate the concentration of iodine of salt in Gorgan and compare it with standards. This study was descriptive-analytical. The sampling was performed on 11 brands of iodized salt in Gorgan,s stores. The iodine content was measured by titration with three replications. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. In this study, the lowest average iodine concentration was observed in the K brand (15.05 µg/g). It did not meet the Ministry of Health standards (30-60 µg/g and 20-50µg/g). It met the WHO, UNICEF, ICCDD standards(15-55µg/g). Also, the brand of J (21.68 µg/g), F (24.62 µg/g), I (28.23 µg/g), and E (23.62 µg/g) did not meet the new standards of the Ministry of Health. The amount of iodine in the salt can be due to its quality in the production stage (e.g. purity) and the time interval from production to consumption. Therefore, continuous monitoring is very important in the chain of production and distribution timely.