EAYURVEDA.ORG आयुर्वेद: Some Bread has cancer causing potassium bromide-LOOK CONTENT BEFORE BUY

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Some Bread has cancer causing potassium bromide-LOOK CONTENT BEFORE BUY

Potassium bromate has been identified as “potential human carcinogen” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer — and it’s also recently been found to be in at least 86 baked goods and products that you can find in the grocery store. (Photo: Alamy)

The bread you buy at the grocery store may include an additive that’s been linked to cancer, new findings reveal.

The r eport, which comes courtesy of environmental research and advocacy organization Environmental Working Group, shows that potassium bromate is used in at least 86 baked goods and other products commonly sold in supermarkets.

Among the products that contain it: Hormel Foods breakfast sandwiches, Goya turnover pastry dough, and Weis Kaiser rolls.

When reached for comment, a representative for Hormel tells Yahoo Health that the products listed in the EWG report “were discontinued over 18 months ago,” were part of a limited distribution test market in three cities, and are no longer on shelves.

Joe Perez, senior vice president of Goya Foods, tells Yahoo Health that his company has removed potassium bromate from all of its products, including the Goya Dough for Turnover Pastries, which was flagged by EWG.

Potassium bromate is added to flour to strengthen the dough, help it to rise higher, and give the bread a white color. But it has also been identified as a “potential human carcinogen” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and is listed as “possibly carcinogenic” by theNational Center for Biotechnology Information.

Various lab tests on animals found that potassium bromate caused significant increases in kidney, thyroid, and other cancers in animals. A 2011 study published in the journal Chemico-Biological Interactions also found it can damage DNA and cause oxidative stress in humans.

Food and Drug Administration has placed a limit of 75 parts per million in food products.

Potassium bromate has been banned as a food additive by the European Union, U.K., Canada, and Brazil. The state of California also requires that foods that contain potassium bromate have a warning label.

EWG's Food Scores, an online tool to help consumers eat healthier, lists potassium bromate as an ingredient in at least 86 baked goods and other food products* found on supermarket shelves, including well-known brands and products such as Hormel Foods breakfast sandwiches, Weis Kaiser rolls and French toast, and Goya turnover pastry dough.

Regulators in the United States and abroad have reached troubling conclusions about the risks of potassium bromate that you probably don’t know about, but should. In 1999 the International Agency for Research on Cancer determined that potassium bromate is a possible human carcinogen.⁶It is not allowed for use or is banned as a food additive in a number of countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil and the European Union.^2,3,4,5 The state of California requires food with potassium bromate to carry a warning label.

Products with potassium bromate (as of 9/16/2015)*