Double-fortified salt is efficacious in improving indicators of iron deficiency in female indian tea pickers

Poor iron status affects 50%of Indianwomen and compromiseswork productivity, cognitive performance, and reproduction. Among the many strategies to reduce iron deficiency is the commercial fortification of iodized table saltwith iron to produce a double-fortified salt (DFS). The objective of this study was to test the efficacy of DFS in reducing iron deficiency in rural women of reproductive age fromnorthernWest Bengal, India. The participantswere 212women between 18 and 55 y of age who worked as full-time tea pickers on a large tea estate. Participants in the randomized, controlled, double-blind studywere assigned to use either DFS or a control iodized salt for 7.5 to 9 mo. The DFS was fortified with 3.3-mg ferrous fumarate (1.1-mg elemental iron) per kg of iodized salt,whereas the control salt contained only iodine (47mg/kg potassiumiodate), and both salt varieties were distributed gratis to the families of participants at 0.5 kg/mo for each 2 household members. At baseline, 53% of participants were anemic (hemoglobin <120 g/L), 25% were iron deficient (serum ferritin <12 μg/L), and 23%were iron-deficient anemic. Also, 22% had a transferrin receptor concentration >8.6 mg/L and 22%had negative (<0.0 mg/kg) body iron stores. After 9mo the participants receiving DFS showed significant improvements compared with controls in hemoglobin (+2.4 g/L), ferritin (+0.13 log₁₀ μg/L), soluble transferrin receptor (20.59 mg/L), and body iron (+1.43 mg/kg), with change in status analyzed by general linearmodels controlling for baseline values. This study demonstrated that DFS is an efficacious approach to improving iron status and should be further evaluated for effectiveness in the general population. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01032005.