Responses to iodized salt article

One of the joys – or sources of woe for columnists is getting responses from readers – whether their views support or contradict yours. Below is a letter from an observer of Muslim bias (a response to my column on Yalla!, a book published by the Swedish government). The reader, who wishes to have her name withheld, writes:

"I was just chatting last night and came across this chat room which supposedly discusses Islam. There were a few chatters who seemed to have logged on the room just to bash Muslims and Islam. I was astounded how much contempt some people actually felt against Muslims. These chatters I was talking about were saying all these blasphemous things against Mohammad and even Allah, for that matter. It just gives me the creeps to realize that there are people who really have hatred for Muslims, similar to the contempt of the Nazis against the Jews.

"You also wrote a column on your experience being a judge in a Muslim beauty contest in Lanao del Sur. I distinctly recall that you observed that while Muslim men can marry four times, most of the men you met only had one wife. I just want to share with you that the persons I chatted with also said the same thing for themselves. One loving and understanding wife is enough for them, they say."

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My column on iodized salt has drawn mostly contrary reactions. Here’s one from the Go Ching Hai Foundation, a Cebu-based institution that is committed to promote the health condition of indigents. One of its projects is distributing Iodized salt "at cost", that is, affordable to poor people. An officer of the Foundation writes via the Internet: "Concerned how your article would affect the peoples' perception of Iodized salt, we would like to know what is the response of Secretary Dayrit to that letter from Ms. Leonarda Camacho (president of the Metro Manila Balikatan Movement, whom this columnist quoted as endorsing rock salt instead of iodized salt).

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Here’s one from a very concerned person.

" It may not be intentional but you do a grave disservice to your readers when you print a "kwento ni lola" about rock salt without first consulting about the possible side effects. Perhaps you and Ms. Camacho are "devil may care" risk takers, but it is irresponsible to needlessly expose others to possible health risks of mental and physical slowing or mental retardation and dwarfism in the case of children, all in the interest of saving a few pesos, preserving a few jobs and conserving foreign exchange.

"While elemental iodine is indeed volatile, potassium iodide (KI, the most common carrier for iodine) is a relatively stable salt with strong ionic bonds. Sodium chloride (NaCl, the chemical formula of iodized as well as rock salt) and KI are closely related chemically and thus behave in a similar manner. KI does not boil off into the atmosphere since it has a very high ending energy and needs a very high energy input to separate into its constituent parts. It remains ionized and dissolved in the water. In order to prove this saturate a glass of water with iodized salt and boil off the water until only the salt residue remains. Test the residue for the presence of iodine. If the test was performed properly and the reagents are not contaminated, the test should be positive.

"The body only needs trace amounts (about 150 micrograms daily) of iodine to meet the body’s daily minimum requirement however in order to be utilized by the thyroid, it needs to be in the iodide form in order to cross the cell membrane. After crossing the cell membrane as a negative ion, it is reconstituted to iodine and combines with the amino acid tyrosine to form T4 and ultimately some T3, both of which control various bodily functions including metabolism.

"The body can not and does not utilize elemental iodine and so even if sea food, rock salt and sea weed contain iodine, unless it is in the correct form, it doesn’t do any good. The problem with rock salt as with herbal medicines is that the amount of active ingredient is never consistent enough to produce the desired results time after time.

" I don’t know if you have traveled abroad very much, but I believe that it is more than just a coincidence that in most other countries where iodized salt is widely used, the incidence of goiter is relatively uncommon. Here in the Philippines where rock salt is commonly used, goiter is a common occurrence.

"If you don’t believe me, please consult any physiologist or endocrinologist worth his salt (pun intended) or any advanced medical physiology text.

"Thank you very much for your time." – Raymond F. Acosta, Angat, Bulacan.