article · The North African Journal of Food and Nutrition Research
A national cross-sectional study conducted across 1,963 Moroccan households in 2019 evaluated household dietary salt and consumer awareness twenty-five years after the 1995 adoption of the Universal Salt Iodisation strategy. Dietary salt samples were analysed using iodometric titration. While 89 percent of households consumed packaged salt, bulk salt consumption was significantly higher in rural areas compared to urban areas. Furthermore, 71 percent of surveyed households were unaware of iodised salt labelling. Salt testing revealed a median iodine content of 7.40 parts per million. Only 7.5 percent of households consumed adequately iodised salt, whereas 65.6 percent used inadequately iodised salt and 25.7 percent consumed non-iodised salt. Over-iodised salt accounted for 1.2 percent of samples. The findings demonstrate that household coverage of adequately iodised salt remains critically low, indicating the need for revised national policies, enhanced regulatory oversight, supply chain monitoring, and targeted rural campaigns.
Iodine deficiency poses a continuous threat to public health if dietary intake is insufficient. These findings show that despite twenty-five years of universal iodisation policy in Morocco, very few households actually consume adequately iodised salt. Understanding these gaps in product labelling awareness and salt quality helps public health authorities identify where regulatory enforcement and rural supply chain monitoring must be improved to protect populations from deficiency.
The abstract describes public health surveillance research rather than a commercial product or process. However, the identified quality gaps could inform commercial salt producers and supply chain monitoring services seeking to improve compliance with fortification standards. Any commercial applications in testing, fortification monitoring, or compliant packaging remain at an early, unapplied stage, as the study focuses strictly on regulatory oversight and policy recommendations.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
Background: At the global level, iodine deficiency (ID) has been significantly reduced since the widespread implementation of salt iodization programs; nevertheless, numerous populations worldwide remain at risk of insufficient iodine intake. In Morocco, the Universal Salt Iodization (USI) strategy was formally adopted in 1995 as a national public health measure to address this nutritional challenge. However, to date, no comprehensive national study has been conducted to evaluate the impact of this strategy on iodine adequacy at the household level. Aims: This cross-sectional study aims to assess the iodine content of dietary salts at the household level in Morocco on a national scale. Methods: A national cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019 among Moroccan households (n = 1963). Dietary salt samples were systematically collected from surveyed households to estimate household coverage of adequately iodized salt and to evaluate consumer awareness of iodization labelling. Iodine content analysis was performed employing the standardized iodometric titration method. Results: At the national level, the majority of households predominantly consumed packaged salt (89%), whilst bulk salt accounted for only 8.1% of total consumption. Packaged salt was significantly more prevalent in urban areas (93.3%), whereas bulk salt was more frequently consumed in rural areas (14%) (p < 0.05). Consistently, the majority of surveyed households (71%) were unaware of the "iodized salt" designation on product labelling. The median iodine content of salt samples collected from the 1,963 households was 7.40 ppm (CI: 7.4–8.0), indicating that only 7.5% (95% CI: 6.4–8.7) of the surveyed population consumed adequately iodized salt (15 – 40 ppm). Furthermore, 65.6% (95% CI: 63.5–67.7) consumed inadequately iodized salt (5–14.9 ppm); 25.7% (95% CI: 23.8–27.6) consumed non-iodized salt (< 5 ppm); and 1.2% (95% CI: 0.8–1.8) consumed over-iodized salt (> 40 ppm). Conclusion: Household coverage of adequately iodized salt remains critically low in Morocco, 25 years following the adoption of the USI strategy, underscoring the limited effectiveness of current program implementation. These findings highlight the urgent to reinforce and comprehensively revise the national salt iodization strategy through enhanced regulatory oversight, strengthened supply chain monitoring, improved consumer awareness campaigns, and targeted interventions in rural and nutritionally vulnerable populations, in order to fulfil the public health objectives of sustainable iodine deficiency elimination. Keywords: Iodine Deficiency; Salt Iodization; Morocco; Iodometric Titration; Public Health Nutrition.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.51745/najfnr.10.22.15-27
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
