Our flour will never be bleached or bromated. EVER!
Whenever we talk about "modern" or "commercial" wheat, we're talking about most of the flour and wheat goods out there.
In bakeries. In pasta. In restaurants. Pizza shops. On the grocery store shelf. If you read labels in your grocery store, you will be amazed at how many products in the center of the store contain wheat.
Why is flour bromated?? It is added to improve the rise and elasticity of dough. The heritage wheat we use to make our flour inherently develops strong gluten without the need for added chemicals.
Bleaching and bromating agents are not allowed under organic certification standards. We are proud to say all our products are organic!
According to the NJ Department of Health Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet, July 2005, “Potassium Bromate may be a Carcinogen in humans since it has been shown to cause kidney, thyroid, and gastrointestinal cancer in animals.” It has been banned in the EU, Brazil, Canada and the UK. The FDA recommends bakers stop using flour with potassium bromate, but it is still legal in the US.
So, why is flour bleached?? It’s to give it a very white color. It also speeds up the aging process which is thought to give flour a softer texture. Some of the bleaching agents include chlorine and peroxide. Our flour has an extremely white endosperm so no need to bleach.
Again, these agents have been banned in the EU and other countries since the 1990’s. They are allowed in the US.
Heritage wheat has as equally soft a texture as bleached flour.
Our flour will never be bleached, bromated, or treated with any other chemicals, because heritage wheat simply doesn’t need the help.
All for now,
