TITLE:
Iodine Content of Processed Foods and Condiments Sampled in China, 2017-2019
AUTHORS:
Zhu Wang, Jun Wang, Weisheng Xu, Jing Xu, Xiuwei Li, Jia Zhao, Guodong Wang, Xiaoguang Yang
KEYWORDS:
Iodine Content, Universal Salt Iodization, Processed Food, Edible Salt, Database
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.12 No.12,
December
21,
2021
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Facing the challenge of increasing consumption of processed foods in
China, along with the demand for salt reduction, and dynamic adjustment of
universal salt iodization (USI) policy, it is necessary to timely evaluate the
distribution of iodine content in processed foods and condiments, so as to
provide more accurate data for population dietary iodine intake assessment. Methods: From markets in 6 cities and e-commerce platforms, cereal, tuber, legume, meat, fish, egg, and dairy products, and condiments, consumed by
volunteers who attended in iodine intake investigation, and top selling
products in particular with well-noted brands were preferentially sampled
during 2017 to 2019. After being mixed and homogenized,
each sample was detected by ICP-MS method. The range and medium of iodine
content in each type of product were given. Results: After merging
samples with close value in the same style of the same brand, and screening out
samples with no added salt or low sodium content (≤120 mg/100g), total 725 data
were sub-grouped and analyzed. In comparison with the 95th percentile of the iodine distribution in relative nature source, assessed by
our previous study, nearly 77% of products made from grains, potatoes, beans,
nuts, livestock and poultry meat were presumed to be processed with iodized
salt. In somewhat, related with sodium value marked on food labeling, the
median iodine ranged from 1.1 mg/100g to 149 mg/100g. The variation of iodine
in egg, milk and fish made products, and seaweed or with seaweed products was
greatly affected by the background of ingredients, the median content most
floated between 12.8 mg/100g and 86.8 mg/100g, even up to 1800 mg/100g in
seasoned seaweed. Based on the frequency of iodine digital and the ratio of
iodine to sodium, it was speculated that nearly 90% of soy sauce and 73.5% of other
seasonings like vinegar, sauce, paste, etc., were not added iodized salt, with
overall median iodine 4.0 mg/100g and
12 mg/100g respectively. Conclusion: Using iodized salt in processed foods is an approach of USI police. Affected by the
nature backgrounds of ingredients composed, the amount of salt used, and the regulated
fortification level, iodine content in each kind of product varied largely.
It’s important to establish a monitoring system in processed foods, as well as
fortification salt, to control the benefit and risk of iodine health.