Iodine Deficiency in the U.K.

An editorial on Iodine Deficiency in the U.K.: Grabbing the Low-hanging Fruit recently appeared in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. While WHO recommends that iodized household salt be the primary source of additional dietary iodine, the U.K. is reluctant to do this. The U.K. Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) has not updated the U.K. recommendations for iodine during pregnancy considering insufficient evidence is available to justify it. Currently, U.K. educational campaigns focus on increasing awareness of the importance of iodine during pregnancy, and to promote the consumption of iodine-rich foods, such as milk and white fish and supplementation of the mineral. See BDA Food Fact Sheet: Iodine.