TAMIL NADU RANKS LOWEST IN COVERAGE OF IODISED SALT

About:

• The survey was conducted by Nutrition International in collaboration with the AIIMS, Delhi and the Indian Coalition for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD).
  
  
• The survey tested the iodine content in samples of cooking salt from households to estimate the coverage of iodised salt in 29 States and 7 Union Territories in India.
  
  

Key findings of survey:

• The national average for household coverage is 76.3% i.e. 76.3% of Indian households consumed adequately iodised salt, which is salt with at least 15 parts per million of iodine.
  
  
• The five worst performers were Tamil Nadu (61.9%), Andhra Pradesh (63.9%), Rajasthan (65.5%), Odisha (65.8%) and Jharkhand (68.8%).
  
  
• The north-eastern States are doing very well with respect to iodised salt consumption at the household level because of the distance they have from the three salt producing states.
  
  
• Gujarat produces 71% of salt in the country, followed by Rajasthan at 17% and Tamil Nadu at 11%. The rest of the country accounts for a mere 1% of salt produced.
  
  
• 13 out of 36 States have already achieved Universal Salt Iodisation.