Moldovan Producers Support Using Iodated Salt in Food Industry

The producers of cheese, bakery products and conserved vegetables from Moldova, which participated on Friday, May 5 at a round table, entitled “Using iodated salt in the alimentary industry”, plead for spreading the use of iodated salt. They launched a declaration that advises all the representatives of the alimentary industry to start using iodated salt in the production process. The head of the alimentary department and technical services of the Ministry of Agriculture and Alimentary Industry of Moldova, Ion Cretu, declared to the press that there are already local companies, especially bakery companies that use products that have iodine, and in June will start selling similar type of cheese. According to the quoted source the elaboration of normative documents, laws, methodical indications and technical regulations – documents that will regulate the use of iodated salt, was discussed at the round table. Ana Volceanschi, deputy-chief state sanitary doctor of the Republic of Moldova specified that the National Center of Preventive Medicine submitted to the Government for approval a program for diseases’ eradication generated by the lack of iodine and it stipulates that starting with 2008 only iodated salt to be used in the alimentary industry. At the round table were presented the results of the visit to Switzerland of a group of representatives of the alimentary industry that ascertained that there is no difference between the gustative qualities of the products with iodated salt and with salt that is not iodated. The visit of the specialists was organized on the occasion of the iodated salt promotion program, at the invitation of UNICEF. According to the medical statistics, because of the lack of iodated salt, each third child from Moldova has deficiencies, 10-15 IQ points are lost at average. The economic prejudice as a result of these deficiencies created by the lack of iodine is estimated by specialists at 10 million dollars yearly. Of the total yearly imported salt, inclusively the salt of technical use, only 30% is iodated.