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Baku hosts scientific conference on â€œuniodized salt: problems and prospectsâ€

04 October 2007 16:32 (UTC +04:00)

The conference began with display of a film on iodine deficiency and its bitter results.
Heydar Babayev, Minister of Economic Development, said that they have tightened measures to prevent production ad sale of uniodized salt in the country.
He added that 21 companies produce salt in Azerbaijan.
â€œSalt production is not satisfactory. The salt we import is not as high-quality as we desire either. We plan to build an iodized salt producing plant near Masazir Lake. Discharge of waste water to the lake has been stopped ad Azersu Company is working on this project now,â€ he added.
Khalig Mammadov, Chair of the State Service for Consumer Market Control, noted that salt imported from Iran, Turkey and other countries are also on sale in Azerbaijan.
â€œWe have discovered that salt products with foreign brand are counterfeited and primitively made here. We have examined 18 types of salt in lab â€“ 5 have standard amount of iodine, 8 lack iodine and we couldnâ€™t determine the amount of iodine in 5 brand products,â€ he said.
Haana Singer, UNICEF Representative in Azerbaijan, said the surveys found out that use of iodized salt has risen to 77% in 2007 from 41% in 2001.
It was concluded at the conference that iodine deficiency in children has fallen sharply in recent years. /APA-Economics/