Sharing Information on Iodine Deficiency from Hair Loss to Skin Conditions to Obesity ...Check out this source for everything about iodine...http://www.iodine-resource.com/iodine-help-forum.html#INV
Articles about children with psoriasis and the high percentage of americans who are obese, had me wondering about iodine deficiencies and is iodized salt still used in the U.S. and especially, is it used by fast food restaurants? (kel)May 31, 2011 article ~ Obese children have psoriasis risk ...
Does Fast Food in America contain Iodized Salt?
Answer about fast-foods and processed foods
"Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of salt in the U.S. diet is not iodized.
Approximately 70% of the salt is used commercially − virtually none of the salt used by the pre-prepared or the fast food industry is iodized. Approximately 70% of the remaining 30%, sold to consumers in grocery stores, is iodized, representing one-fifth of the total salt consumed (14, 71).
Others have recognized the emerging iodine deficiency issue (72, 73). Satin (73) suggested that the restaurant/food service trade must demand and use iodized salt so that meals consumed away from home provide the same iodine level as at home. If all salt was iodized, a 5-fold increase in iodine intake can occur without increasing salt intake.
Whether consumer demand can persuade the food industry to do so or legislation is needed is not a scientific issue. A large number of countries have chosen the route of mandatory universal salt iodization. In the United States, an affluent country, another issue that ironically underlies the iodine gap is the unseen discrimination based on economic classes. To paraphrase Stephen (74), there is no disease worse than poverty. Consumption of prepackaged or fast food is much greater among the less affluent (75-78), leading to, and perhaps even perpetuating, the iodine gap."
So most salt in the United States is NOT iodized (including the very trendy new varieties of sea salts and kosher salts). The only salt you can truly count on is the salt you buy for your home consumption. Make sure you check the label for its iodine content (some brands actually list the amount). And when it gets old, toss it. There IS a difference between fresh salt and salt that's been exposed to heat, light, and humidity over time.
Many countries require all their salt to be iodized. But the woman at the FDA said "labeling issues" are not nearly as high priority as food safety issues and so on. So it doesn't seem like we'll see this as an issue in the United States anytime soon.
check out entire article, if anyone would like the more medical format:http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es0719071
___April 24, 2010
Would You Like Iodine with That?
BOSTON -- No matter who serves it, fast food is lacking in iodine, researchers say.
Both McDonald's and Burger King's hamburgers and French fries were low in the element, at about 20 mcg for the burgers and 3 mcg for the fries, Sun Lee, MD, of Boston University, and colleagues reported at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists meeting here.
The recommended daily amount of iodine for adults in the U.S. is 150 mcg.
"The amount of iodine was surprisingly small except in items like milk or fish, which we know are generally high in iodine," Lee said at a press briefing here.
Recent studies have shown an increasing problem with iodine deficiency in the U.S., Lee said. The compound is essential for hormone development, and is also important in pregnant and lactating women for normal fetal and neonatal neurodevelopment.
Burger King has endorsed the use of iodized salt in its food, Lee said, but McDonald's does not.
So the researchers decided to investigate whether there were differences in the iodine content between the two. They assessed two restaurants in each chain in the Boston area, and decided to test seven categories of food at both.
They analyzed two of each food item, measuring iodine content spectrophotometrically.
The researchers found that iodine varied from as low as 2.1 mcg in Burger King chicken tenders to as high as 163.7 mcg in a McDonald's vanilla shake.
Total iodine content for McDonald's items was as follows:
Big Mac with cheese: 16.7 mcg
Small French fries: 2.7 mcg
Fish sandwich: 69.9 mcg
Chicken sandwich: 5.3 mcg
Happy Meal hamburger: 4.3 mcg
Chicken nuggets: 3 mcg
Vanilla shake: 163.7 mcg
Total iodine content for Burger King items:
Whopper with cheese: 25.8 mcg
Small French fries: 4.3 mcg
Fish sandwich: 43.5 mcg
Chicken sandwich: 163.3 mcg
Kids meal hamburger: 3.9 mcg
Chicken tenders: 2.1 mcg
Vanilla shake: 147.8 mcg
Lee said it was not surprising that milkshakes and fish sandwiches had higher iodine contents because these foods are generally known to contain more iodine.
What was surprising, Lee said, was the Burger King chicken sandwich's high iodine content. But further analyses revealed its abundance was likely due to high iodine content in the bread from iodate used as a dough conditioner -- not from the chicken patty itself.
The researchers concluded that despite the difference in the use of iodized salt in food preparation, the iodine contents "appear to be similar between comparable items of McDonald's and Burger King."
http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/AACE/19716