[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
RE: Iodized salt
Neil Travis wrote:
> Iodine is not added to table salt because people need it but
> purely to make
> it flow better as normal cooking salt which has is not iodized
> tends to mix
> freely with water and as such would clog up the salt shaker etc. and goes
> hard with moisture from the air as salt is hydroscopic. Iodized
> salt in high
> concentrations is poisonous to fish and should not be used in an aquarium
> only natural or non idodised salt is suitable.
From the Encyclopaedia Britannica
[http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/1/0,5716,43641+1+42684,00.html]..
...
---------------
iodized salt
table salt with small amounts of iodine added, usually as potassium iodide,
to ensure against dietary deficiency of iodine. Where iodized salt is used,
particularly in Switzerland and the United States, endemic goitre has
disappeared.
In the United States, iodized salt contains 1 part in 10,000 iodide and, in
Switzerland, 1 part in 200,000. The World Health Organization recommends 1
part in 100,000. See also iodine deficiency.
----------------
following the link to iodine deficiency:
----------------
iodine deficiency
condition in which an organism does not take in enough iodine, an element
that directly affects thyroid gland secretions, which themselves to a great
extent control heart action, nerve response to stimuli, rate of body growth,
and metabolism.
Simple goitre (enlargement of the thyroid gland) is the most common form of
iodine deficiency illness and is found particularly in mountainous regions
and areas far from salt water. Lowest incidence of this disease occurs along
seacoasts. When the supply of iodine is only moderately deficient, the
thyroid gland works harder to synthesize hormones in normal quantities, but
the affected individual may continue in general good health despite the
possible presence of goitre. In cases of severe and prolonged deficiency,
however, there may be a deficit of thyroid hormones, resulting in myxedema,
a condition characterized by dry skin, loss of hair, puffy face, flabbiness
and weakness of muscles, weight increase, diminished vigour, and mental
sluggishness.
Prevention of iodine deficiency is most simply accomplished by eating
seafood regularly or by use of iodized table salt. To overcome natural
iodine deficits, government health officials in Canada and other nations
have made dietary iodine additives mandatory.
------------
Also from Britannica..... in the article on "Salt"....
------------
To ensure that this hygroscopic (i.e., water-attracting) substance will
remain free-flowing when exposed to the atmosphere, small quantities of
sodium aluminosilicate, tricalcium phosphate, or magnesium silicate are
added.
James Purchase
Toronto