Salt has its place at the dinner table since it’s fortified with iodine to help prevent thyroid problems in adults and developmental delays in children, but eat too much and you run the risk of heart disease.
Like many countries working to help their citizens reduce their sodium intake, Health Canada’s public health campaign wants us reduce our average daily sodium intake from 3,400 mg to 2,300 mg by 2016.
Although table salt represents only about 11 per cent of Canadians’ daily sodium intake, it provides roughly half the 150 micrograms of iodine adults need each day. Introduced in the 1920s, iodized table salt effectively eliminated iodine deficiencies and the telltale goitres (enlarged thyroid glands) that they caused. Canadians also get iodine from dairy products, such as milk and yogurt, seafood and seaweed.
Mary L’Abbé, a professor at the University of Toronto, says the latest survey examined urinary iodine levels, though the results have not been published. “Once you know what the situation is, governments have the ability to either adjust the levels (of iodine) or the types of foods that it’s added to, to basically get it right,” she said.
That could mean adding iodine to salt used in processed foods or increasing iodine levels in table salt so that a smaller amount of salt would provide a comparable health benefit.