When the Internet exploded a little while back with the news that Subway (and a number of other fast food restaurants) included the ingredient azodicarbonamide (a chemical also found in things such as yoga mats) I felt a little smug. After all, it’s extremely rare for me to eat at Subway, and even more rare for me to eat at the other places mentioned. Then I saw a post by a friend of mine on facebook indicating that azodicarbonamide can be found in flours on grocery store shelves. That lead me to take a look through my cupboards.

Lo and behold, there it was in the ingredient list for my healthy whole wheat flour. Interestingly, not for my unbleached all-purpose white flour, nor for my organic gluten-free flours. It turns out that perhaps the fast food companies aren’t to blame for this one. This goes back to the ingredient suppliers.

Now, azodicarbonamide may be safe for us to consume in the quantities that it’s present in our flour. It may not be. I don’t know. Personally, I’d rather avoid consuming unnecessary additives regardless. I know that in the future I’ll be checking the ingredients in my flour before I buy it. I’m also feeling a whole lot less smug about baking my own bread.