What Is the Availability of Iodised Salt in Supermarkets on the Island of Ireland?

Authors

Mark Shaw, Institute for Global Food Security, Centre for Public Health, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK
Anne P. Nugent, Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK
Breige A. McNulty, Institute of Food and Health, School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
Janette Walton, Department of Biological Sciences, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, IrelandFollow
Michaela McHugh, Institute for Global Food Security, Centre for Public Health, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK
Ashley Kane, Institute for Global Food Security, Centre for Public Health, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK
Aoibhin Moore Heslin, Institute of Food and Health, School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Dublin 4, Irelan
Eoin James Morrissey, Department of Biological Sciences, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, IrelandFollow
Karen Mullan, Regional Centre for Endocrinology & Diabetes, Belfast Health & Social Care Trust, Belfast, UK
Jayne V. Woodside, Institute for Global Food Security, Centre for Public Health, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4758-5328

Abstract

Iodine deficiency remains a global nutritional public health challenge, with evidence suggesting borderline adequate or even deficient status for UK and Irish subpopulations such as schoolgirls and pregnant women. The solution, according to the WHO, is salt iodisation, but it is not known how widely available iodised salt is in supermarkets. Iodised salt availability was determined by a shelf survey of 89 supermarket stores on the island of Ireland (n = 30 in Northern Ireland and n = 59 in the Republic of Ireland) from September 2018 to January 2019, to take into account factors such as store type, location, population density, socioeconomic status and ethnicity. Availability was calculated as the number of stores selling iodised salt as a percentage of the total. Iodised salt was only available in 11 stores (12%), of which 10 were ethnic stores. This indicates a lack of access for the majority of the Irish and Northern Irish populations.

Disciplines

Biology | Life Sciences | Public Health

Full Publication Date

2019

Publication Details

This is the Pre-print version of an article. It has not undergone peer-review

A peer-reviewed version of this Pre-print was accepted for publication in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, after peer review. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-019-0518-6

Publisher

N/A: Preprint

Award Number 1

Iodine Global Network

Resource Type

preprint

Resource Version

http://purl.org/coar/version/c_71e4c1898caa6e32

Access Rights

open access

Open Access Route

Green Open Access

License Condition

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Related Identifier

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-019-0518-6

Deposit Statement

This is the Pre-print version of an article. It has not undergone peer-review

A peer-reviewed version of this Pre-print was accepted for publication in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, after peer review. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-019-0518-6

Recommended Citation

Shaw, M., Nugent, A.P., McNulty, B.A. et al. What is the availability of iodised salt in supermarkets on the Island of Ireland?. Preprint at http://sword.mtu.ie/dptbioscipre/4 (2019)