Development of a Simple Field Kit for Monitoring Iron in Fortified Salt

Abstract

One practical way to control iron-deficiency anaemia is to fortify edible salt with iron. Effective implementation of a programme for producing and distributing iron-fortified salt requires regular monitoring of edible salt for iron, particularly at the retail sales and household levels. A simple, inexpensive (10 rupees) field kit was developed for this purpose. No glassware has to be carried, and reagents are supplied in the form of tablets. It is possible to detect iron fevers as low as 50 parts per million (ppm) and as high as 1,000 ppm. One kit can be used to test 200 salt samples.