Iodized Salt

"In 1918, Swiss doctor Bayard proposed iodizing salt as a good way to treat areas endemic with goiter. Iodized salt was transported by mules to a small village at the base of the Matterhorn where more than 75 percent of school children were goitrous. It was given to families to use for six months, and the iodized salt was beneficial in treating goiter in this remote population. Physician David Marine conducted the first experiment of treating goiter with iodized salt in America in Akron, Ohio. The study was conducted on over four-thousand school children and found that iodized salt prevented goiter. Seven other studies similar to Marine’s were conducted in Italy and Switzerland, and they also demonstrated the effectiveness of iodized salt in treating goiter. In 1924, US public health officials initiated the program of iodizing salt and started eliminating the scourge of goiter. Today, more than 70% of American households use iodized salt, and many other countries have followed the same public health strategy to reduce the health consequences of iodine deficiency."