Health warning on iodine levels in food

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDOct 3 2010

After a health scare that involved consumption of Bonsoy milk, health experts have warned about iodine levels in food. Nearly twenty five people who developed illnesses because of high iodine levels in the soy milk filed a Supreme Court writ last week, seeking damages from Bonsoy's Australian distributors.

Experts say that excess iodine in a person’s diet can cause damage to the thyroid, leading to over-activity in the gland in adults, and an under-active thyroid in affected babies.

According to Dr Diana Learoyd of Sydney University this was a “strong public health argument” and in future steps need to be taken to monitor the iodine levels in imported foods and commercially available seafood preparations. “Babies who were born to mothers ingesting higher levels of iodine, and breastfeeding, also received very high doses of iodine… In those particular babies, their thyroid became underactive, not overactive, and that has quite significant implications for babies development, particularly intellectual development,” she said. She assured that regulators at Food Standards Australia were closely monitoring foods.

The study led by Dr Bronwyn Crawford appeared in the Medical Journal of Australia and it detailed eight cases of people who suffered illnesses after taking Bonsoy. “Between January and June 2010, 48 retrospective Australian cases of thyroid dysfunction associated with this brand of soy milk were also notified to local public health authorities,” he said. The paper also noted a “cluster of cases of thyrotoxicosis” linked to an “unidentified soy milk” reported in New Zealand in 2005.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is also warning people now to check what they eat especially seafoods.

The company has issued a statement acknowledging the legal action. “Spiral Foods can reassure customers and suppliers that products that are currently in the Australian market have been thoroughly tested and approved by Australia's highest food body,” Spiral Foods director James Wilson said.