Salt figures prominently in two of the 15 medical greatest medical advances since 1840, according to the latest British Medical Journal , including the one judged most important: public sanitation . Chllorination is an important element in ensuring public sanitation. The other is oral rehydration therapy -- the administration of a solution of salt, sugar and water to combat diaherria.

A third salt-related development was highlighted as one of the major health advances -- the development of systematic rules for applying science known as "evidence-based medicine ." As BMJ points out: how can it be that clinicians give only lip service to basing treatment deciisons on hard science and why have they had such a hard time setting aside their informed professional opinions in favor of reliance on scientific evidence? That's the question we've been raising for the past decade with regard to the mounting scientific evidence that there is no health benefit for reducing dietary salt .

Finally, an omission, we believe, from an otherwise-excellent compilation: the fortification of dietary salt with potassium iodide or potassium iodate. Iodizing salt to combat Iodine Deficiency Disorders and the mentail impairment they impose on children born of iodine-deficient mothers and developing children receiving insufficient amounts of the vital trace mineral iodine was worthy of inclusion. That said, we''re not sure which of the 15 should have been jettisoned to make room.

Salt tastings are all the rage, salt samplers are among the choicest holiday gifts, and chefs tell us each salt has a different flavor and has to be used to its best advantage in cooking. Sea salt tastes a lot better than mined salt, Rocco DeSpirito told the New York Times. "It's got a real saline, ocean character that comes across in the food."

Thanks to celebrity chefs, popular cookbook authors and gourmet catalogs, entire mythologies have developed about salts and their healthful virtues. Culinary gurus talk passionately of various salts and continually try to outdo each other for the most alluring, exotic and lavish offerings. And salt fads are born. Gourmet salts can now sell for more than 100 times the price of plain table salt. For most of us, following these food fads seem harmless fun. It never occurs to us it might not be.

Often taken as gospel are claims that sea salt is unrefined, more natural and more healthful than ordinary table salt because it comes from the sea and is high in minerals. Sea salt has been praised for tasting pure, fresh, bright, delicate, sweet, sharp, refined, balanced and well-rounded. Everyday table salt is condemned as tasting bitter, tinny, metallic, acrid, characterless, and chemical-like, because it's said to be cheap and highly refined.

In actuality, all edible salt sold is about 99% pure sodium chloride. The remaining 1% - negligible traces in a dish - are far too minute to make a difference nutritionally.

These observations at year-end on Junkfoodscience are by way of introduction to some further thoughts on the importance of iodine nutrition in the U.S. Pointing to the "astounding changes" identified in Food Technology magazine last month (the article was by Salt Institute technical director Morton Satin, although not identified in this article), the author continues:

While iodine levels are not yet low enough to declare a public health emergency (remember, RDAs are not minimum requirements and are set higher than most people need to prevent deficiencies to allow for a safety margin), they indicate a trend of serious concern to health professionals.

This summer, researchers at the Conway Institute of Biomolecular & Biomedical Research at the University College Dublin reported that the iodine intakes among Irish women of childbearing age were significantly below World Health Organization recommendations. They reported that a mere 3.3% of all salt sold in Ireland and UK was iodized. This past spring researchers reported in the Medical Journal of Australia that iodine deficiencies were re-emerging in Australia.

A week ago, the New York Times reported that about one-third of the world's population eating only locally produced foods is short on iodine, contributing to stunted growth among the children and "even a moderate deficiency lowers intelligence by 10 to 15 IQ points, shaving incalculable potential off a nation's development." Multiple international iodizing efforts are underway, just as the United States did in the 1920s. Meanwhile, we might be poised to having to relearn our own history lessons.

For articles like this, Junkfoodscience has been nominated for recognition as the Best New Medical Blog . If you agree, you might want to add your vote to recognize salt-sensitive medical reporting. We vote aye!