Ministry of Health 'relaxes' regulations on iodine supplementation for food

The Ministry of Health has just issued Official Dispatch 6134/BYT-PC on implementing the Prime Minister's conclusion regarding iodized salt, directing local health units not to inspect food production enterprises using iodized salt.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Health requires units under the Ministry of Health, Departments of Health of provinces and centrally-run cities, according to their assigned functions, tasks and powers, to strictly implement the requirement during the inspection and examination process to only inspect enterprises producing iodized salt, and not to inspect food production enterprises using iodized salt.

Responding to the press on this issue, Mr. Nguyen Huy Quang - Director of the Legal Department,Ministry of HealthThe iodine deficiency disorder prevention program from 1994-2005 reduced the rate of goiter in children (8-10 years old), increasing the iodine content in the body of Vietnamese people above the WHO minimum level.

However, after 10 years, by 2015, after the use of iodized salt became voluntary, the rate of children (8-10 years old) with goiter increased to 9.8% and became a public health issue and required policy intervention as recommended by the United Nations Children's Fund - according to Mr. Quang.

"Faced with that risk, the Ministry of Health has proposed adding iodine to table salt to reduce the consequences because according to research by the World Health Organization, the cost of supplementing iodine for people is only about 3 million USD, a small part of the cost of 648 million USD for healthcare and health problems caused by iodine deficiency," said Mr. Quang.

Previously, there were different opinions between the business community andMinistry of Healthduring the implementation of Decree No. 09/2016/ND-CP regulating the fortification of micronutrients in food. Decree 09 only requires the mandatory addition of iodine to direct table salt, salt used in food processing and control of iodine addition at salt production facilities used for the above two purposes, and does not require control of iodine content in finished food products.

However, in Official Dispatch No. 1216/BYT-PC dated March 14, 2017, the Ministry of Health responded to the enterprises' comments, affirming that enterprises processing food for domestic consumption that use salt must use iodine-fortified salt. Therefore, food processing enterprises have repeatedly requested the Ministry of Health to abolish the above guidance.

Implementing the direction of Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, the Government Office organized dialogues between the business community and representatives of the Ministry of Health, with the participation of the Deputy Prime Minister. At these dialogues, representatives of the Ministry of Health and businesses agreed to only inspect iodine supplementation for salt production facilities, not inspect food processing enterprises using salt.

According to Dantri