Using double-fortified salt to reduce iron deficiency anemia in India

Adding essential vitamins and minerals to staple foods or condiments can be a cost-effective and underutilized strategy to address deficiencies. For example, adding small amounts of iodine to salt has been highly effective in eliminating iodine deficiency disorders worldwide. Similarly, fortifying wheat flour with iron and folate is a common practice to combat deficiencies. These strategies have shown great benefit-to-cost ratios, with iodine fortification at 30:1 and iron fortification at 8:1.

This issue of The Journal of Nutrition features a report on approaches to assess the benefit to cost ratio of reducing iron deficiency anemia in India through salt fortified with both iodine and iron.

Read IGN Executive Director Werner Schultink’s editorial on the report.