From The January 2001 Issue of Nutrition Science News

India's Prime Minister Lifts Salt Ban

New Delhi, India—Pleasing Hindu nationalist lobbying groups perhaps more concerned with economics than public health, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his Health Ministry recently lifted a 2-year-old ban on the sale of noniodized salt throughout the country.

Iodine deficiency is thought to lead to goiter (swelling of the thyroid gland) as well as mental retardation. Considering 40 percent of India's population is illiterate and therefore can't distinguish between iodized and noniodized salt labels, scientists have asserted that maintaining the ban on noniodized salt is the surest way to continue fighting these preventable conditions that are now endemic in India. Opponents of the ban believe that the people should be able to choose whether they buy iodized salt or the cheaper, noniodized version.