ICCIDD board member Venkatesh Mannar, president of Micronutrient Initiative, was named Sept. 21 as one of 15 Laureates fo The Tech Awards 2010 for his work creating double-fortified salt (iodine and iron). Double fortified salt required innovative food technology to combine the iodine and iron; previously "iron could not be added to iodized salt because the properties of the two ingredients cancelled each other out when combined.," reports CNW.

CNW noted that double fortified salt: "delivers both iodine and iron, is being recognized as an innovation that could spark global change by reducing intellectual disabilities and anaemia. In populations consuming sufficient iodine, IQ levels are shown to be 13 points higher than populations deficient in iodine. Currently, iodine deficiency is the world's leading cause of preventable mental impairment, affecting an estimated 18 million babies each year. Iron-deficiency anaemia, the most wide-spread nutritional deficiency, can have life-long effects on a child's cognitive development and learning abilities and puts women at greater risk of death during childbirth."