Well. What a great question this is, and I'd have never thought it would be so hard to find an answer!
Here's how a very nice woman at the FDA explained it to me (after a 30-minute wait on hold! Those people are busy!):
The only time when salt is required to actually identify itself as iodized or not-iodized is when it is just being sold as salt. Salt is a "finished food," according to the FDA. It's an end-product.
But when you buy, say, a cake mix, in which the salt is not a "finished food" itself but is just an ingredients, the FDA says it's just supposed to be labeled "salt." Whether it's iodized or non-iodized, it's supposed to be called salt.
Interestingly, there is what appears to be a citizens' petition docket that perhaps requests more accurate identification of salt. It's Docket 2007P-0187 "Requirements of Iodized Salt on Ingredient Labels" apparently filed by a J. Shingara, but there's no link to click on and the very nice woman on the phone couldn't give me any more information on it. I imagine J. Shingara is someone just like you or me, wishing she or he knew the iodine content of foods from their labels. Her or his petition falls in the middle of May on this page, with a "Pending" after it:
I asked the nice woman (who wouldn't give me her name) specifically about such things as frozen foods and fast foods, and she said there is no regulation about which salt companies must use and that the only way to tell which sort of salt was being used was to call each company. (That will only take us a hundred years!)
Interestingly, a 2008 study published in the American Chemical Society's Environmental Science & Technology journal says that we may not be getting as much iodine from table salt as we believe:
"Researchers tested 88 samples of iodized salt and found that 47 did not meet the FDA’s recommended level. In addition, amount of iodine varied in individual packages and brands of salt."
Here's that link (it annoyingly does not name the troublesome salt brands):
And here's the entire article, if anyone would like the more medical format:
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es0719071
In the full-form article, it actually does give us an answer about fast-foods and processed foods:
"Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of salt in the U.S. diet is not iodized. Approximately 70% of the salt is used commercially − virtually none of the salt used by the pre-prepared or the fast food industry is iodized. Approximately 70% of the remaining 30%, sold to consumers in grocery stores, is iodized, representing one-fifth of the total salt consumed (14, 71). Others have recognized the emerging iodine deficiency issue (72, 73). Satin (73) suggested that the restaurant/food service trade must demand and use iodized salt so that meals consumed away from home provide the same iodine level as at home. If all salt was iodized, a 5-fold increase in iodine intake can occur without increasing salt intake. Whether consumer demand can persuade the food industry to do so or legislation is needed is not a scientific issue. A large number of countries have chosen the route of mandatory universal salt iodization. In the United States, an affluent country, another issue that ironically underlies the iodine gap is the unseen discrimination based on economic classes. To paraphrase Stephen (74), there is no disease worse than poverty. Consumption of prepackaged or fast food is much greater among the less affluent (75-78), leading to, and perhaps even perpetuating, the iodine gap."
So most salt in the United States is NOT iodized (including the very trendy new varieties of sea salts and kosher salts). The only salt you can truly count on is the salt you buy for your home consumption. Make sure you check the label for its iodine content (some brands actually list the amount). And when it gets old, toss it. There IS a difference between fresh salt and salt that's been exposed to heat, light, and humidity over time.
Many countries require all their salt to be iodized. But the woman at the FDA said "labeling issues" are not nearly as high priority as food safety issues and so on. So it doesn't seem like we'll see this as an issue in the United States anytime soon.
Comment Reply
Well. What a great question this is, and I'd have never thought it would be so hard to find an answer!
Here's how a very nice woman at the FDA explained it to me (after a 30-minute wait on hold! Those people are busy!):
The only time when salt is required to actually identify itself as iodized or not-iodized is when it is just being sold as salt. Salt is a "finished food," according to the FDA. It's an end-product.
But when you buy, say, a cake mix, in which the salt is not a "finished food" itself but is just an ingredients, the FDA says it's just supposed to be labeled "salt." Whether it's iodized or non-iodized, it's supposed to be called salt.
Interestingly, there is what appears to be a citizens' petition docket that perhaps requests more accurate identification of salt. It's Docket 2007P-0187 "Requirements of Iodized Salt on Ingredient Labels" apparently filed by a J. Shingara, but there's no link to click on and the very nice woman on the phone couldn't give me any more information on it. I imagine J. Shingara is someone just like you or me, wishing she or he knew the iodine content of foods from their labels. Her or his petition falls in the middle of May on this page, with a "Pending" after it:
http://www.fda.gov/RegulatoryInformation/Dockets/ucm090519.htm
I asked the nice woman (who wouldn't give me her name) specifically about such things as frozen foods and fast foods, and she said there is no regulation about which salt companies must use and that the only way to tell which sort of salt was being used was to call each company. (That will only take us a hundred years!)
Interestingly, a 2008 study published in the American Chemical Society's Environmental Science & Technology journal says that we may not be getting as much iodine from table salt as we believe:
"Researchers tested 88 samples of iodized salt and found that 47 did not meet the FDA’s recommended level. In addition, amount of iodine varied in individual packages and brands of salt."
Here's that link (it annoyingly does not name the troublesome salt brands):
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080204090923.htm
And here's the entire article, if anyone would like the more medical format:
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es0719071
In the full-form article, it actually does give us an answer about fast-foods and processed foods:
"Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of salt in the U.S. diet is not iodized. Approximately 70% of the salt is used commercially − virtually none of the salt used by the pre-prepared or the fast food industry is iodized. Approximately 70% of the remaining 30%, sold to consumers in grocery stores, is iodized, representing one-fifth of the total salt consumed (14, 71). Others have recognized the emerging iodine deficiency issue (72, 73). Satin (73) suggested that the restaurant/food service trade must demand and use iodized salt so that meals consumed away from home provide the same iodine level as at home. If all salt was iodized, a 5-fold increase in iodine intake can occur without increasing salt intake. Whether consumer demand can persuade the food industry to do so or legislation is needed is not a scientific issue. A large number of countries have chosen the route of mandatory universal salt iodization. In the United States, an affluent country, another issue that ironically underlies the iodine gap is the unseen discrimination based on economic classes. To paraphrase Stephen (74), there is no disease worse than poverty. Consumption of prepackaged or fast food is much greater among the less affluent (75-78), leading to, and perhaps even perpetuating, the iodine gap."
So most salt in the United States is NOT iodized (including the very trendy new varieties of sea salts and kosher salts). The only salt you can truly count on is the salt you buy for your home consumption. Make sure you check the label for its iodine content (some brands actually list the amount). And when it gets old, toss it. There IS a difference between fresh salt and salt that's been exposed to heat, light, and humidity over time.
Many countries require all their salt to be iodized. But the woman at the FDA said "labeling issues" are not nearly as high priority as food safety issues and so on. So it doesn't seem like we'll see this as an issue in the United States anytime soon.
August 13, 2009 - 10:22amThis Comment
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