Ninety-one percent Nepalis consume iodized salt and is the second nation after Bhutan which has the highest consumption in South Asia, Manager of Salt Trading Ltd., Brajesh Kumar Jha said. Ninety-seven percent Bhutanese use iodized salt.

Both are mountain kingdoms with a high incidence of goiter. In the SAARC region, Pakistan, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh use iodized salt in that order after Bhutan and Nepal.

Salt Trading Corporation began marketing iodized salt to reduce the prevalence of goiter and sells 150,000 metric tons every year. Japan has helped Nepal construct factories at home to fortify imported salt from India with iodine to increase potency; cost  is also reduced by importing raw salt. nepalnews.com br July 17