Technological issues associated with iodine fortification of foods

With a decrease in the addition of salt to food, iodine deficiency diseases are re-emerging globally. Public Health officials are considering the addition of iodine salts to processed foods to redress this situation. However, iodate is a powerful oxidising agent and iodide, a powerful reducing agent. Their use in foods may result in redox reactions which in turn may influence food characteristics, shelf life and stability. Very little research has been conducted with respect to the reactions of iodine and its salts in food matrices. Thus, the impact of fortifying processed foods with iodine salts is unclear.