The Fortification of Salt with Iodine, Iron, and Folic Acid

Micronutrient poor diets around the globe and in particular in the developing world cause deficiencies in iron and folic acid. This may be rectified by the incorporation of these micronutrients into currently running salt iodization processes. The objective of this project was to develop folic acid and iodine spray solutions to be ready for pilot scale testing and to investigate the stability of triple fortified salt containing iodine, folic acid and microencapsulated ferrous fumarate. The optimal spray solutions were buffered to pH 9 with a carbonate/bicarbonate buffer to stabilize folic acid and contained 1%-2% w/v folic acid and 1%-3% w/v iodine (as KIO3). They remained in solution and retained ≥80% of both micronutrients after 5 months of storage at 25ºC and 45ºC. Double fortified salt produced using these spray solutions retained 100% of both folic acid and iodine over a 5 month period when stored at ambient conditions. Unfortunately triple fortified salt did not sufficiently retain the micronutrients due to excess moisture absorption and inadequate encapsulation of iron.MAS