Accra, June 19, GNA - Salt producers in the cottage industry are to be partly blamed for the failure to adequately iodize salt consumed in the country, as required by law, a health expert said on Thursday. Mr Joseph Armah, Head of the Nutrition Unit of the Ghana Health Service, told the GNA that those involved in the cottage industry, mainly producing salt on small-scale, did not find it profitable to iodize the salt because of the small cost involved. Recent surveys indicate that at the moment, 32 per cent of households in the country adequately consume iodized salt, a figure below the 49 per cent achieved in 2005.

Health experts, have meanwhile, targeted a 90 per cent household consumption, a figure which appears to be eluding the authorities. Iodine deficiency has a lot of health and economic implications for the country. Iodine is a key micro-nutrient required in the early stages of brain development. Children born to iodine deficient mothers often have a lower IQ.

Mr. Armah said another area that needed attention to achieve universal salt iodization was to make available potassium iodate, an imported product used in iodizing the salt. He said presently UNICEF was supporting the country in making available potassium iodate but groups involved in salt production and the private sector had to step in to support. Mr Armah said apart from non-compliance in iodizing salt, enforcement of the law was very weak.

He said the Food and Drugs Board and the Police Service needed to do more to ensure that salt produced in the country was iodized. Mrs. Ernestima Agyepong, a Programme Officer at UNICEF, said: "Producers should endeavour to produce quality iodated salt while enforcement agents do their part. Producers are not being fair to consumers who purchase salt which when tested show inadequate levels of iodine."