Risk Management of Iodized Salt in Udon Thani

Abstract

Objective: To study the situation on the production of iodized salt and its quality in Udon Thani and identify measures to strengthen the production. Method: The researcher analyzed 2017 inspection results of salt production sites in Udon Thani province and results from laboratory tests of the salt products collected at production sites and in the markets. Researchers organized group discussions between salt producers and relevant government representatives to jointly determine solutions to problems or risk factors affecting the quality of iodized salt. Results: There were 58 salt production sites in Udon Thani province. Ten of which passed the standard.  Laboratory test on the quality of salts collected from 11 production sites indicated that all passes the standard  (11/11 samples). Laboratory test on the quality of salts collected from market place showed that 42.42 percent (14/33 samples) failed the standard, with 4 of substandard samples being produced in Udon Thani. Laboratory results of samples from market places and production sites were inconsistent. In-depth analysis identified several important issues such as there were many production sites of non-iodized salt leading to distribution of the salt without iodine supplementation. Many salt production sites did not maintain their practice up to the standard criteria. The database on salt production sites was not up to date. In addition, non-iodized salts and those with unlawful labelling were prevalent in market places. Conclusion: Udon Thani Provincial Public Health Office should empower the manufacturers in iodized salt production. Relevant governmental agencies should work in concert with stringent law enforcement in order to make the production of iodized salts meeting the standard.