Taiwan's Ministry of Health and Welfare has modified food additive standards to increase potassium iodide concentrations in iodized salt after the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) found that 51.2 percent of Taiwanese lack sufficient iodine intake.

Amendments to the Standards for Specification, Scope, Application and Limitation of Food Additives is to require potassium iodide concentration in iodized salt to be increased from the current range of 12mg/kg to 20mg/kg, to 20mg/kg to 33mg/kg and would be enforced after six months, the HPA said.

The ministry’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said iodized salt manufacturers would face a fine of between NT$30,000 and NT$3 million (US$90,807) if they fail to meet the standards after they come into effect.

HPA Director-General Chiou Shu-ti said that a 2013 survey showed the median urinary iodine concentration of people above six years old was only 99 micrograms per liter — below the minimal concentration of 100 micrograms per liter recommended by the WHO — adding that iodine is a necessary nutrient to maintain healthy functions of the thyroid gland.