That Chemical Subway Ditched? Yep, It’s Everywhere
February 12th, 2014Via: CNBC:
This week, Subway found out customers don’t like eating a chemical found in yoga mats, shoe rubber and synthetic leather.
After one blogger’s petition against azodicarbonamide generated widespread uproar, the sandwich chain announced plans to remove the ingredient from its bread. Currently, its 9-grain wheat, Italian white and sourdough breads contain it.
“We are already in the process of removing azodicarbonamide as part of our bread improvement efforts despite the fact that it is a USDA and FDA approved ingredient. The complete conversion to have this product out of the bread will be done soon,” Subway told CNBC in an email.
…
Although the product is approved for use in the U.S. as a dough conditioner and flour bleaching agent up to a certain limit, Europe and Australia have banned it as a food additive, writes Vani Hari, who drafted the petition and runs the site FoodBabe.com. Hari noted that her site’s traffic has doubled since she began the petition. To date, it’s drawn more than 75,000 signatures.
According to restaurant websites, here is a list of some products that contain it as an ingredient:
McDonald’s: regular bun, bakery style bun, bagel and English muffin, Big Mac bun and sesame seed bun.
Burger King: specialty buns, artisan-style bun, sesame seed bun, croissant, English muffin, home-style Caesar croutons and French toast sticks.
Wendy’s: bagel, premium toasted bun, sandwich bun and panini bread
Arby’s: croissant, French toast sticks, harvest wheat bun, honey wheat bread, marble rye bread, mini bun, onion bread and sesame seed bun
Jack in the Box: bakery style bun, jumbo bun, croissant, grilled sourdough bread and regular bun
Chick-fil-A: chargrilled chicken sandwich, chicken salad sandwich, and chargrilled chicken club sandwich
If you’re eating from any of those restaurants on the list you probably aren’t too worried about chemicals in your food.
If you don’t eat factory processed food then this has zero direct effect on you. (Unless you’ve been chewing on your shoes or yoga mats).
By the way, the main ingredient in Chick-fil-A gravy is “coffee whitener”. People worry far more about what goes into their cars’ gas tank than into their own bodies. It’s morbidly fascinating.