The All India Bread Manufacturers’ Association on Thursday said it had decided to voluntarily stop using potassium bromate and potassium iodate as additives in bread from Friday.
Alternatives: Safer alternatives such as ascorbic acid, enzymes and emulsifiers will be used instead.
Why?? The decision comes after a report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) that it found cancer-causing additives in bread and bakery samples collected from Delhi.
CSE recommendations:
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The FSSAI should ban the use of potassium bromate in making bread with immediate effect. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) should also amend relevant available standards.
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Use of potassium iodate as a flour treatment agent in breads should not be allowed by the FSSAI. The BIS should amend relevant available standards in this case as well.
In 1999, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified potassium bromate as Class 2B — possibly carcinogenic (cancer causing).
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has already stated that it would soon notify the removal of the chemicals from the list of additives based on a recommendation of its scientific panel.
Ban in EU, China: While the European Union and many countries, including China, have banned potassium bromate as a flour treatment agent, the U.S. and India have permitted its use.
However, the State of California requires foods containing this additive to carry a warning label.
Many small and commercial bakeries voluntarily avoid using bromated flour after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1991 urged bakers to do so. But many groups in the U.S. have been demanding a ban on the additive in bread and flour.
