Dhaka. The government will take legal actions against the salt mills failing to maintain adequate iodine proportion in their salt production after August 31, said officials of Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) on Thursday. The warning came at a review of the annual progress of the BSCIC project — Control of iodine deficiency disorders through universal iodization of salt (CIDD-third phase).

The officials emphasized that the salt mill owners (and other people concerned) need to work with greater responsibility to achieve the target of providing 100 percent families in the country with iodized salt by 2016. At present, 58 percent of the table salt produced in the country is adequately iodized. So far, 267 salt iodization plants have been distributed among eight salt zones of the country with assistance from UNICEF, the officials said.