Estimated iodine intake from household salt
Integrated into the iMC Salt randomized controlled trial, designed to decrease the salt intake inadequacy, the iodine content in the household salt samples was also analyzed. All the provided 47 salt samples (mostly sea salt) analyzed contained detectable iodine, with an average concentration of 14 mg I/kg (SD 7) (Fig. Iodine levels (mg I/kg) found in household salt samples from the iMC Salt intervention group. Green circles—salt samples complying with the WHO and the Portuguese criteria; orange circle—salt samples complying only with the WHO criteria; gray circles—salt samples that did not comply with WHO or the Portuguese criteria; gray dashed line—iodine range according to the Portuguese legal criteria for salt iodization (19–27 mg I/kg); red solid line—WHO-recommended level of iodine for salt iodization (15 mg I/kg)Forty-five percent of the samples (21/47) presented iodine concentration below the minimum threshold preconized by WHO (15 mg I/kg). Moreover, only 15% (7/47) of the salt samples showed iodine between the established levels in the non-mandatory iodine fortification Portuguese law (19–27 mg I/kg) [