Beware bakers still use bromide in bread
May 22, 2007
Is bromide still used as an ingredient to make bread? Unfortunately, the answer is ‘yes’ despite its cancerous effects. Potassium bromate is used as an additive which during oxidation is broken down to bromide.
By Gusto Rowzer
Is bromide still used as an ingredient to make bread? Unfortunately, the answer is ‘yes’ despite its cancerous effects. Potassium bromate is used as an additive which during oxidation is broken down to bromide.
Members of the Food and Beverages Development Association of Uganda (FABASU) voiced concern that some bakeries in the country were still using it.
Most countries have banned bromide as a food ingredient. It has been identified for many years as seriously carcinogenic (contributing to the cause of cancer).
Its function in bread was to stabilise the dough and prevent it from splitting into an uneven texture which makes the bread difficult to slice or even makes its shape awkward.
It was often alleged in the British Army that bromide was added to tea served in the army canteen, with the aim of holding the soldiers sexual libido down. My army friends suffered no such effect, but that is a different story!
There are many other stabilisers available to bakeries. One of the latest and best is Power Baker 203. As a ‘bread improver’, it prevents the bread from splitting and controls the size of the air holes caused in the dough by the action of yeast.
The dangers of using bromide in bread are well known at the Uganda Bureau of Standards (UBS), which is about to introduce new standards for bakers.
One defect in Ugandan bread that UBS may not be able to regulate is the great variation in the quality of wheat flour used in baking. Millers import wheat grain and flour from many different sources. While millers sometimes blend flour from both hard and soft wheat, the flour used by bakeries varies greatly in quality and in baking properties.
Together with the vagaries of electricity supply, Ugandan baking has suffered.
FABASU Members have been loud in the complaints of bread quality.
A common complaint is that bread is not fresh. The packaging may be sound and an expiry date well indicated, but the actual date of baking may be several days prior to the date marked on the pack, so the bread may not be as fresh as indicated.
FABASU says the day of baking should be marked, not the ‘best by date’.
The writer is a member of Food and Beverages Development Association of Uganda
Is bromide still used as an ingredient to make bread? Unfortunately, the answer is ‘yes’ despite its cancerous effects. Potassium bromate is used as an additive which during oxidation is broken down to bromide.
Members of the Food and Beverages Development Association of Uganda (FABASU) voiced concern that some bakeries in the country were still using it.
Most countries have banned bromide as a food ingredient. It has been identified for many years as seriously carcinogenic (contributing to the cause of cancer).
Its function in bread was to stabilise the dough and prevent it from splitting into an uneven texture which makes the bread difficult to slice or even makes its shape awkward.
It was often alleged in the British Army that bromide was added to tea served in the army canteen, with the aim of holding the soldiers sexual libido down. My army friends suffered no such effect, but that is a different story!
There are many other stabilisers available to bakeries. One of the latest and best is Power Baker 203. As a ‘bread improver’, it prevents the bread from splitting and controls the size of the air holes caused in the dough by the action of yeast.
The dangers of using bromide in bread are well known at the Uganda Bureau of Standards (UBS), which is about to introduce new standards for bakers.
One defect in Ugandan bread that UBS may not be able to regulate is the great variation in the quality of wheat flour used in baking. Millers import wheat grain and flour from many different sources. While millers sometimes blend flour from both hard and soft wheat, the flour used by bakeries varies greatly in quality and in baking properties.
Together with the vagaries of electricity supply, Ugandan baking has suffered.
FABASU Members have been loud in the complaints of bread quality.
A common complaint is that bread is not fresh. The packaging may be sound and an expiry date well indicated, but the actual date of baking may be several days prior to the date marked on the pack, so the bread may not be as fresh as indicated.
FABASU says the day of baking should be marked, not the ‘best by date’.
The writer is a member of Food and Beverages Development Association of Uganda