An October 1 article in Environmental Health Perspectives documents the declining iodine status of the U.S. population and suggests an immediate remedy would be to have the food service industry utilize iodized salt consistently. Rebecca Renner uses research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and quotes ICCIDD board members Kevin Sullivan, Michael Zimmermann and Richard Hanneman.

The article explains that the need to use iodized salt has been confused in the debate over salt reduction, but makes clear that all sides of the salt reduction debate agree that use of iodized salt is totally unrelated to the amount of salt in the diet. Switzerland, for example, adjusts the iodine fortification level to reflect changes in iodine intake.