UNICEF says not having enough iodine, a mineral, during pregnancy and early childhood can cause problems like miscarriages, stillbirths, mental retardation, and learning disabilities.

Most people worldwide, around 89%, use salt with a bit of iodine, especially in Asia.

A study in Bangladesh checked how much iodine was in packaged salt and found it's changing in different brands. While iodine issues have reduced in Bangladesh because of government efforts, we still need to worry about losing iodine in salt because of humidity, heat, and bad salt-making methods, plus food storage issues.

The study's author, Mohammad Asadul Habib, from Noakhali Science and Technology University, says the study shows iodine in packed salt goes down over time. Not all salt brands keep enough iodine as per Bangladesh's rules, so we need better rules to check salt quality and iodine.

Some countries, like India and Bangladesh, add iodine to salt, but in places like the Philippines, they can't, so they make salt without iodine.

Iodine is in foods like eggs, dairy, fish, and seaweed, but many people don't eat enough of these.

By 2020, 124 countries made iodine in salt a must-do, according to the European Journal of Endocrinology. The World Health Organization says over 90% of homes should have iodized salt.

The study in Bangladesh found big differences in iodine levels in different salt brands, with some needing more iodine. They also looked at how happy people were with different salt brands.

People were happier with salt that had more iodine and if they had more money and education.

To fight iodine issues, Habib suggests teaching people better ways to store salt to keep iodine levels up.

A pediatrician, Agnimita Giri Sarkar, from Kolkata's Institute of Child Health, who wasn't part of the study, says we could make salt stronger with things like sodium hexa-metaphosphate to keep iodine from going away.

Sarkar adds that we could also add extra iodine to salt over time. Plus, we could find places where people don't get enough iodine and give them more iodine, especially pregnant moms and kids, to stop iodine problems.