Prenatal multivitimins lack iodine

BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Chinese medianet) -- Several brands of

multivitamins for pregnant women contain too little iodine than their labels

claim, posing greater threat to the brain development of a child, says a study.

According to the study, tests conducted on 60 brands

that listed iodine as an ingredient on their labels found many fell short of the

stated amount.

"If these numbers are all real, then they're not

meeting their label claim and that's a problem," said William Obermeyer, a

former Food and Drug Administration scientist who co-founded ConsumerLab.com, a

private testing service.

The study was done by scientists at the Boston

University Iodine Research Laboratory. Results were reported in a letter

published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. No brands were named in

the analysis.

The risk of less iodine appears greater with

"natural" vitamins that get their iodine from kelp rather than a salt form, the

study found. Leading cause of mental retardation Iodine is commonly added to

table salt and can be found in seafood, dairy products and bread. Iodine

deficiency affects more than 2 billion people worldwide and is the leading cause

of mental retardation.

Pregnant and nursing women need 220 to 290 micrograms

of iodine a day, according to the Institute of Medicine. Expecting mothers who

don’t get enough can put their babies at greater risk of mental retardation and

growth, hearing and speech problems.

The American Thyroid Association recommends that

pregnant women take a daily dose of prenatal multivitamins containing 150

micrograms of iodine, which is needed for proper thyroid function. During

pregnancy, having enough thyroid hormones is important for fetal brain

development.

There is no law requiring vitamin makers to add

iodine to prenatal multivitamins, which are available by prescription or bought

over-the-counter as dietary supplements.

(Agencies)