As if consumers haven’t had enough food scares in the past few years, the self-styled consumer activist group, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, is now attacking an ingredient sometimes added to dough — potassium bromate–because it has been shown to cause kidney cancer in some strains of lab rats when they drink large amounts of it in water.
Potassium bromate is what is known to food scientists as a dough “improver.” Such compounds are added to flour or dough to improve the handling characteristics of the dough and the texture of the finished product — bread or rolls.
Potassium bromate has been used for many years in bakery products. Until recently, according to Dr. Arthur Lipman, Acting Deputy Director of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Division of Petition Control, it was thought that the substance essentially dissipated during the baking process. Subsequently, it was learned that this was not necessarily the case.
In the early 1990s, more sensitive technology was developed that allowed the detection of truly miniscule amounts of potassium bromide — in the parts- per-billion range (one part per billion is equivalent to one second in 32 years). Using this ultra-sensitive new technology, the FDA determined that some bakery products did indeed contain minute residues of potassium bromate.
Thus, in 1991, based primarily on three studies of highly sensitive strains of laboratory rats, the FDA suggested that bakers use other products to alter the characteristics of dough. These studies involved longterm exposure of the animals to high doses of potassium bromate in their drinking water.
After such chronic, high-dose exposure, some of the rats did develop cancer. But the studies were not significant enough for the FDA to declare the additive an imminent danger and begin the process of banning it. Furthermore, there are still no studies on humans exposed to potassium bromate that indicate it poses a risk.
The question now is: Is it important for the public health that the FDA ban potassium bromate in baked goods? According to Dr. Lipman, any risk to consumers from this additive is insignificant, and if people do wish to avoid it they can do so by reading the ingredient label on their baked goods, where it must be listed, and making an informed decision.
“If regulators adopted CSPI’s approach to animal carcinogens, they would have to ban naturally occurring, healthy foods we have all enjoyed over the years, including broccoli, pumpkin pie, mushrooms and even coffee,” added Dr. Ruth Kava, director of nutrition of the American Council on Science and Health. “All these foodstuffs, and many others, contain harmless, trace amounts of animal carcinogens.”
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Tags: baking process, characteristics, consumer
