How Fortified Table Salt Could Drastically Reduce Infant Deaths in

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How Fortified Table Salt Could Drastically Reduce Infant Deaths in Developing

Nations

BY Ariel SchwartzMon Mar 28, 2011

Infant mortality in developing countries is depressingly high, with 3.6 million

children dying each year in the neonatal period. Unlike many other global health

issues, this one is easily fixable--cutting down on deficiencies of

micronutrients like folic acid in women of childbearing age could dramatically

reduce infant deaths.

So last fall, Scientists Without Borders, a platform that crowdsources solutions

to scientific problems, set out to work on the issue with a $10,000 challenge

that asked entrants to solve the problem of folic acid deficiency in women

throughout the developing world with simple, low-cost solutions. This week, the

winners were announced.

First place in the PepsiCo-sponsored Maternal Health and Nutrition Prize went to

Miranda, an Argentinian pharmaceutical manager and amateur athlete (he

has completed several marathons and an Ironman competition) living in New

Zealand. Miranda scored $6,000 for his ultra-simple solution: table salt that

has been triple-fortified with folic acid and vitamins B12 and B6.

Miranda, who works at a human nutrition research lab at Massey University, came

up with the idea during a three-week vacation from work. While looking for

studies linking folic acid deficiencies with neural tube defects (birth defects

in the brain and spinal cord), Miranda stumbled upon several highlighting the

importance of the folic acid/B12/B6 combination in infant health. That's when he

thought of the triple-fortified salt idea.

" All the ingredients are very cheap because of the low proportion in the

formula. More than 99% of the formula is common table salt and when buying it in

bulk quantities, the price goes very low, " he explains.

Miranda plans to use his winnings to continue research on triple-fortified

salt--in his spare time, of course.

Second place in the competition went to freelance researcher Pushpakaran K.

Thiyadi for the idea to microencapsulate folic acid, and third place went to a

team of graduate students from Northwestern University who hope to use

microfinance for folic acid distribution.