This week’s passion blog post was inspired by a social media trending topic. Multiple sources are carrying the story that the sandwich shop Subway is eliminating the use of the chemical azodicarbonamide in their breads. The topic was just too hard to pass up—just this past weekend I recorded my “This I Believe” essay, which I wrote about how I bake my own bread. In fact, I even listed the same chemical in my essay to exemplify the unfamiliar, hard to pronounce ingredients that are commonly used in processed breads as further reason for me to bake my own bread. It turns out most news sources are jumping on the fact that azodicarbonamide is also used in the manufacturing of foamed plastics—such as yoga mats.
So today I’m going to further investigate the chemical azodicarbonamide, as well as some other food additives that are used in products other than food.
To start off, azodicarbonamide is indeed approved as a food additive by the US Food and Drug Administration, achieving “generally recognized as safe” status in concentrations below 45 parts per million—that’s 0.0045% by weight. Its use in food is banned in Australia, Europe, and Singapore. It is added to flour as a dough conditioner and strengthener, and it can be found in many brands of commercially produced breads. The ingredient did not become controversial overnight, it seems—while researching the topic I came across all sorts of blog articles about this reportedly dangerous food additive surrounded by attacks on the processed foods industry. It’s hard to figure out which articles are accurate and not just angry venting against artificial foods. I did some research about the chemical itself and some scientific studies conducted to test its safety, and it appears that azodicarbonamide can indeed by harmful in its raw form. Accordingly, the UK does label it as a respiratory irritant, indicating that it can be harmful to workers who inhale the chemical.
However, when used in bread, azodicarbonamide doesn’t actually stay in its raw form. When it is combined with flour and water, studies found that “it is rapidly and completely converted into biurea, which is stable under baking conditions” (www.inchemg.org). Biurea has been found to be rapidly eliminated from the body after consumption. Other by products besides biurea need further investigation to determine how much of a threat they pose to humans, but by all studies it seems that azodicarbonamide, at or below the maximum allowed proportion, does not pose as significant of a threat as some news headlines would have you believe.
A main non-food use of azodicarbonamide is in the manufacturing of foamed plastics, such as the material yoga mats are made of. It’s important to note that there is a distinction between the chemical that is delivered to bakers and that which is used in plastics manufacturing—as a food product, the quality and purity standards are higher. But in making a yoga mat, azodicarbonamide is what makes the foamy texture. It produces gases when it is heated, and those tiny gas bubbles are trapped in the material, creating a springy, cushioned foam.
But azodicarbonamide is just one of many food additives that is used in other ways besides food. Take, for intense titanium dioxide. It is a chemical pigment and whitener that is commonly found in sunscreens because of its ability to block UV rays from the skin. It is also used in cosmetics. But where is titanium dioxide also used? Sometimes in skim milk and low fat cheeses—products that may not be as bright white due to their decreased fat content. Titanium dioxide is used to make them look brighter and more appealing—closer in color and appearance to their full-fat versions. Titanium dioxide is also an airborne irritant, but is otherwise rather chemically nonreactive and harmless.
I can definitely understand the public reaction to the use of azodicarbonamide in bread products as well as other artificial ingredients in various food products, and I generally believe that simple and natural is usually better in terms of food. My only concern would be that the food industry will find another chemical to use instead—a chemical that no one will notice until someone investigates and petitions bakeries to stop using it. And who knows how long that would take.
Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/06/health/subway-bread-chemical/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_dioxide/
http://www.inchem.org/documents/jecfa/jecmono/40abcj28.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azodicarbonamide
http://www.inchem.org/documents/cicads/cicads/cicad16.htm#PartNumber:2
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