According to media reports, the Taiwanese Health Promotion Administration (HPA) has published the results of a nutritional survey assessing the country's iodine status. According to Taipei News, "the research (...) analyzed the urine of 1,185 individuals aged six and older [and] found that the country’s median urinary iodine levels stood at 96 micrograms per liter (μg/L)". In the wake of this report, several news articles have inaccurately asserted that 50% of the Taiwanese population is iodine deficient.

According to the WHO criteria for assessing iodine nutrition, a median urinary iodine of 100-199 μg/L indicates that the population is iodine sufficient, and the risk of iodine deficiency in that population is small. A population median of 96 μg/L is on the verge of the desired range, which suggests that Taiwan is not far from achieving adequate iodine intakes. Nonetheless, this median indicates that there is some risk of iodine deficiency in the population, and it puts the country in the mildly deficient category.

Urinary iodine concentration is not recognized or used as a marker of iodine status in individuals because it's not accurate enough. Therefore, a UIC below 100 μg/L in an individual should not be interpreted as a sign that the person is iodine deficient. By the same token, a population median (average value) of 96 μg/L does not mean that 50% of the population suffers from iodine deficiency.