Iodized salt in bread improves iodine nutrition in Australia

There has not been any regular, national surveillance program of iodine nutrition in Australia, but some States, such as Tasmania, have regularly surveyed schoolchildren by testing urinary iodine levels. It has generally been believed that the Australian population was iodine replete, with data showing average urinary iodine levels in excess of 200 μg/L in the early 1990s (1). Since then, we have reported the re-emergence of iodine deficiency in Australia (2). A similar situation pertains in New Zealand where iodine deficiency has also been reported in schoolchildren, infants, toddlers and pregnant women.