Secretary of Iranian Association of Iodized Salt Manufacturers said about 50% of the iodized table salt available in the market is adulterated and not of standard quality.
Domestic consumption of table salt in Iran is 720,000 tons a year.
Mohammad Abrisham-Kar told IRNA that fake salt is causing harm to people's health and financial loss to genuine producers.
Swindlers exploit the need for the commodity and supply the market with fake and non-iodized salt, he noted.
Common salt is easily accessible in mines and the fake salt is produced by adding a little quantity of iodine to it, and after grinding it to very small particles, it is labeled as table salt. Common salt contains heavy metal substances causing cancer, kidney stone and high blood pressure which ends in liver failure, Abrisham-Kar said.
He emphasized that edible table salt has a mandatory standard: "It cannot contain more than 0.8% impurities."
He said the association has identified fraudulent producers and asked the concerned authority to take immediate action.
