On July 26, the Ministry of Health promulgated the national standard for food safety, “Iodized salt content in edible salt (Draft for Soliciting Opinions)â€, which intends to lower the upper limit of salt iodine content. At the same time, the country will no longer unify the concentration of iodized salt. The director of the standard, the director of the Iodine Deficiency Disorders Expert Consultation Team of the Ministry of Health, said in an exclusive interview with reporters, “This adjustment does not mean that the Chinese population is oversupplying iodine.â€
This is illogical. If it is not iodine excess, why did the Ministry of Health lower the upper limit of iodine content? The “Explanation Notes†of the Consultation Draft has made it clear that at present, the iodine content in China’s salt is high, about 5 provinces are in excess levels, and 16 provinces are above the appropriate level. Is this not excessive iodine supplementation?
No matter how experts excuse, it cannot change a basic fact: the relevant departments are forcing the country to uniformly consume iodized salt. From the outset, it is a wrong policy. The compulsory salt supply system for iodized salt is a typical example of governance failure.
The people of the country are required to uniformly consume high concentrations of iodized salt in order to prevent and treat certain diseases. The relevant department obviously treats "iodine" as a chemical. We can't imagine that someone or an organization forces all people in the country to consume a medicine every day. However, in the past fifteen years, more than a billion people, irrespective of region, age, gender, and physical condition, have been forced to add a uniform concentration of iodized salt daily. This kind of thing can only happen in contemporary China.
This system of forced iodized salt consumption has three main system pillars: First, unfettered administrative power. When the Ministry of Health requested people to uniformly use iodized salt 15 years ago, did they seek public opinions? Have you consulted professional groups extensively? Did you report to the National People's Congress? A major issue concerning the health of the nation is determined by a professional administrative department or even only a few of the departments themselves. Such a decision-making process is really a weird thing if you make a correct decision.
Second, irresponsible experts. There is no doubt that the health department can say that the decision to make a unified national iodization of salt is medically justified. The question is whether the research of these medical experts is independent? Are their studies complete enough? With regard to the long-term effects that high concentrations of iodized salt may have on the human body, have they conducted extensive and long-lasting animal testing? Have different opinions been seriously considered? The head of the expert group now also said that the imposition of iodine by the Chinese people is not excessive, and one cannot but question the professional authority and professional ethics of so-called experts.
Third, the salt monopoly system. Irresponsible power coupled with irresponsible experts jointly introduced iodized salt, while the salt monopoly system and the instant salt monopoly system institutionalized irresponsibility: salt is a monopoly, and people can only obtain salt from monopolies. This monopolist has the greatest incentive to implement the iodized salt system because the process of adding iodine is the process of making profits: salt companies sell industrial salt to franchised salt companies at an ex-factory price of 4,500 yuan per ton, and salt Industry companies add iodine to them, the value of iodine is only twenty or thirty yuan. But after adding iodine, the wholesale price of salt soared to 2,000 yuan per ton. With such a temptation, the salt monopoly is, of course, a hardcore defender of the iodized salt system. Salt monopoly companies continue to crack down on so-called “private salt†on the ground of not adding iodine. However, in addition to iodine, private salt and official salt are identical in chemical and nutrient content.
The above three systems are interlocking, pushing the consumer to a monolithic bridge with iodized salt. In one place, even if it is a high-iodine area, such as a coastal area, people here have to eat daily iodized salt. Numerous fieldworks have proven that such long-term excessive intake of iodine has caused damage to many local people and induced certain diseases. People cannot but ask: The health department, the salt industry franchise department, and those experts who support unification and forced iodization should bear responsibility for the physical damage to these people? Can these people repay the above-mentioned departments and individuals according to law?
Things have reached the point where they are today. It is not enough to adjust the amount of iodine. The correct approach is to abolish the existing system of national unification and forced consumption of iodized salt, and establish a multi-center salt supply system. China is a very large country. The natural environment and people's diet structure in different regions are quite different. Not to mention different provinces, that is, the same county, and the natural iodine intake levels of different townships and villages cannot be the same. In this case, the unified national standard for iodine addition is ridiculous. The only reasonable institutional arrangement is a polycentric salt supply system.
Specifically, first of all, the existing national “Iodized Salt for Edible Salt†was abolished and it was decided by the various urban and district governments and even counties and townships. If experts are available, they can guide the process of determining local standards. Second, even these local standards are only recommended standards. Just like nutritional standards, any local authority must not impose a unified concentration of iodized salt on the people in its jurisdiction. The public reserves the right to eat iodized salt. Third, in this case, the monopoly system of the salt industry must be abolished. Any venture company can produce and sell salt. In response to consumer demand, they can produce iodized salt and iodized salt, and the iodine concentration can be varied to prepare consumers for choice. The enterprise can also add other minerals beneficial to the human body in the salt under the guidance of experts.
The philosophy behind this polycentric salt supply system is human autonomy. The person who cares most and understands his physical condition is himself. The best way to make a person healthy is to let everyone decide whether to treat or how to treat. Experts can provide professional advice, and the government can supervise them, but neither of them can be used for advice.