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`One net, One life` mission to distribute...
2008-05-13 09:22:22
By Felister Peter
More than 25 per cent of Tanzanians suffer from problems of goiter because they consume non-iodized salt.
The sorry state of affairs was revealed over the weekend in Dar es Salaam, by an official with Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC), Dr Fatma Abdallah, while elaborating on the national salt iodization strategy.
Dr Abdallah said that the decision to iodize salt was initiated after discovery that more than 6,500 salt producers in 23 districts were not adding iodine to the substance.
``We carried out research in 2003 and found that only 30 per cent of producers were adding iodine to their salts, with the rest putting to risk of goiter conditions more than 45 per cent of Tanzanians,`` she said.
Dr Abdallah said salt regulations require that all salt for consumption has to contain at least 40 to 80 particles of iodine for every one million particles.
She said TFNC in collaboration with the National Council for Control of Iodine Deficiency have established a ‘Salt Producers Association` that provides training to district leaders and health officers to ensure all salt is iodized before it is placed in the market.
After awareness creation, about 84 per cent of families in Tanzania are now using iodized salt, reducing goiter conditions to seven percent.
Another TFNC official, Celestine Mgoba, said the country is planning to start food fortification process for all types of flour and sugar.
Mgoba said the decision will help add nutrients to food because for the past 25 years, there has been a serious problem of nutrition.
The TFNC official said types of food to be fortified were selected with regard to their consumption levels.
A lot of people eat maize flour compared to other foods, so it will be easier for them to get the nutrients provided.
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