Many moons ago, when I was just entering this wondrous (and often weird!) world of organic, whole foods, I had a customer ask if our Gluten Free, Freshly Baked In House, Organic Walnut Sandies used bromated flour. The answer turned out to be yes. The gluten free, organic (not to mention expensive!) flour was bromated, and she chose not to indulge. Turns out she was asking the right questions.
Most commercially available flours in the U.S. are processed – to make them finer (no germ), whiter (bleached), and in some cases, easier to work with from a baking perspective.
What is Potassium Bromate?
Potassium bromate is widely used to achieve the bleached quality– turning naturally light brown/tan flours as white as the driven snow. Other chemicals are also used in the processing, but most are eliminated during the processing.
Potassium bromate is not eliminated during the processing, and trace amounts remain in the flour.
Nomad Natural Market isn’t in the business of deciding what is right for your family, but these are the facts:
- Potassium bromate has been banned as a food additive in the European Union, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Nigeria, South Korea and Peru.
- The International Agency for Research on Cancer https://www.iarc.who.int/ classifies potassium bromate as a category 2B carcinogen meaning there is sufficient evidence (this is not proof) that the compound causes cancer. In laboratory studies, potassium bromate causes renal cancers due to its oxidizing effects.
https://inchem.org/documents/iarc/vol73/73-17.html
We all make our own choices for our families, choosing to eliminate bromated flours is only one, but an easy one to make. Nomad Natural Market’s flours are NOT bromated, and never will be.