Azodicarbonamide with the  E number E927

What should I eat on My American Road Trip?

After reading an article in USA Today,

“Subway: ‘Yoga mat’ chemical almost out of bread.”

I just had to find out more, so here are my findings

What do Mac Donald’s say?

Do your buns contain the same chemicals used to make yoga mats?

The ingredient in question is azodicarbonamide (ADA) and it is sometimes used by bakers to help keep the texture of their bread consistent from batch to batch. For that reason, it is used in most of the buns and rolls we use for our burgers and sandwiches. However, it’s not in our artisan bun, which is used in the Bacon Clubhouse Sandwiches.

There are varied uses for azodicarbonamide, including in some non-food products, such as yoga mats. As a result, some people have suggested our food contains rubber or plastic, or that the ingredient is unsafe. It’s simply not the case. Think of salt: the salt you use in your food at home is a variation of the salt you may use to de-ice your sidewalk. The same is true of ADA — it can be used in different ways.

Mac Donalds

What Does the World Health Organisation Say?

 

The WHo admits that

Case reports and epidemiological studies in humans have produced abundant evidence that azodicarbonamide can induce asthma, other respiratory symptoms, and skin sensitization in exposed workers. Adverse effects on other systems have not been studied.

The WHO

What about Mac Donald’s Argument?

Azodicarbonamide as a blowing agent in plastics has been banned in the European Union since August 2005 for the manufacture of plastic articles that are intended to come into direct contact with food, so the EU thinks it is not safe to come into contact with food. As a food additive, azodicarbonamide is not authorised for use in Australia and the European Union. In the United States, azodicarbonamide has generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status and is allowed to be added to flour at levels up to 45 ppm.

WIKI

If like me you always need to check “facts” here is a link to The EU COMMISSION DIRECTIVE 2004/1/EC of  6  January 2004

Like Everything In Life

Like everything in life “you pays your money, you takes your choice.” But I think I would rather eat Subway over MacDonalds. Although I do have the odd Big Mac in the UK, where it is safe to eat without the Yoga Mat. But I still don’t like the sloppy buns.

Any advice on What should I eat on My American Road Trip?

 

Make Your Own Vacations

A vacation is a bit like a sandwich, the travel there is the bread, the destination the filling and transport back another bit of bread. You can take analogies too far but I often find then entertaining, if you want to add your own sound bites on the analogy feel free to comment.

You could pop in to garage and buy a cheap £1, Egg and Cress, Ham and mustered, Cheese and pickle or Tuna and Sweet Corn. They might satisfy the appetite but will not do much to enhance your day. You could go along the cheap “all inclusive” Meal Deal and get a drink and a snack, It can save you money but I often find the crisps months later, uneaten in the back of the car.

It doesn’t save you money unless you really want all of the bits, just like All Inclusive Holidays may be a false economy.

This way of getting a sandwich is like buying a package holiday, you can go along the it’s “cheap and filling route” or the upmarket Ultimate Meal Deal from M&S. Here you are paying more for better ingredients and superior packaging plus the status of carrying an M&S bag rather than a Shell Logo bag.

You might want to read my page on Where to go on Holiday, where status costs real money but the packing might not be worth the extra.

Package holidays and vacations are getting more sophisticated, allowing you to mix and match to create your own taste sensation, a bit like Subways Rolls.

Transport The Bread of Vacations

Either side of your holiday vacations is the transport you take to get there, it is the thing that holds your holiday together and just like bread it comes in different forms from dark brown rye bread to pale floppy white buns full of air rather than flour.

Wheat bread is made using strong flour, water, salt and yeast. In the 1960’s The Chorleywood bread process was introduced, allowed the use of softer flour and speeded up the time taken to produce a mass produced loaf. Now about 80% of all UK bread is produced in this way, hence the rise of cheap flights bread. Not only was cheaper flour use but additives started to creep in to improve the flavour and shelf life of the bread. This was not about improving the bread but making cheap bread taste like proper bread. Very much like the sale of “duty free” and Meals on airlines helps subsidise the cheap flight.

While doing research for this article I found an interesting article on azodicarbonamide titled “Subway: ‘Yoga mat’ chemical almost out of bread”. I did my own research and have posted an aside here.

I like thick white bread cut from a loaf made by a baker. I also like cheap flights and so put-up with Ryan Air waking me up to sell lottery tickets. Ryan Air is the Chorleywood of cheap flights.