Cost Benefit Analysis - Essay Example

Notably, according to a 15 year model on fortified iodine by Food Standards Australia New Zealand  in Australia, fortification will give rise to benefits after one year from the time it was implemented, and more importantly, the benefits accrue to the individuals who achieve iodine replete status before 15 years of age and also they remain iodine replete to that age.Notably, according to a 15 year model on fortified iodine by Food Standards Australia New Zealand in Australia, fortification will give rise to benefits after one year from the time it was implemented, and more importantly, the benefits accrue to the individuals who achieve iodine replete status before 15 years of age and also they remain iodine replete to that age.

Costs Evidently, the cost of the mandatory fortification includes the cost to the government that comprises of administering as well as enforcing fortification, the cost of the health monitoring, and the cost to the industry of fortification. Moreover, there are other potential cost that will be involved due to the introduction of the policies complementary to fortification and restriction of consumer choice. Essentially, due to fortification, the consumers are likely to face a reduction of choice and this can also result to an increase of price of the processed products.

Although the cost of reduction of choice may not be quantified, it is clear that fortification will not give chance to the consumers to avoid fortified products and therefore they will have to make some considerable changes to their dietary habits. According to Caldwell et al. the salt production in United States is slightly above 60,000 tones. Mainly, due to mandatory fortification, salt manufacturers will require some machinery together with equipment that will match the demand for the iodized salt (Caldwell et al. 932). Similarly, some of the industries will have to make some changes in labeling of the product in order to make sure that the iodized and non-iodized salt is not confused.

Evidently, also the industries will have to add an iodine compound to the premix of salt which will be followed by analytical testing. The industries will also incur additional ware-housing costs owing to the fact that there is need to store separately the specific iodized salt. Similarly, the government will also have to undertake training and awareness with regard to the mandatory fortification, administration, auditing, and also instate mechanism for dealing with complaints. All this activities will require some additional costs.

Benefits Generally, the benefits associated with fortification include a reduction in morbidity due to a reduction of iodine deficiency disorders, increased IQ and hence this will also result to improved productivity, reduction of absenteeism of employees who suffer from iodine deficiency disorders and related management cost, and enhanced performance at school and improved school attendance. More importantly, all of these benefits cannot be measured directly (Zimmerman