Iodine Content of some Commercial Table Salts in Kano ? Nigeria as a factor affecting Dietary Iodine Levels

Kano is the most populous state in Nigeria which is located in an area remote to the coast where most food with natural dietary iodine content is comparatively low. To complement this in the state and others, salt iodization was initiated and the program has been strengthened using potassium iodate (KIO3) with the dosage of 50 microgram per gram. In this research, titrimetric analysis was used on ten different samples, each of five different commercially- sold table salt brands randomly bought from selling points for the analyses of their iodine level. The results were then compared with the WHO standard value. The study found that only sample B representing Mr. Chefs table salt has its average value (23.79 microgram per gram) below even the minimum value recommended by World Health Organization. The highest value of 50.23 microgram per gram was obtained for sample A representing Masa table salt. This is then followed by sample E representing Anapuna table salt (47.57 microgram per gram), sample D representing Dangote table salt (42.29 microgram per gram), sample C representing Royal table salt (33.30 microgram per gram) and D representing Dangote table salt (33.30 microgram per gram). It can be inferred that although the iodine content of none of the sample salts exceeds the recommended value, it is clear that only sample B falls below the WHO recommended value (30 ? 50 microgram per gram), while the remaining samples are just within the range. Results were significant at 0.05 level. Recommendations were made.