![]() ![]() In order for bromine to cause any adverse health effects, you must come into contact with it. The presence of bromine in the environment does not always lead to exposure. How exposure to bromine can affect your health Such levels are below those that are thought to cause harmful effects. Workers producing bromine products or using bromine are more likely to be exposed, although safe levels of exposure are enforced to protect workers. Low-level exposure from the correct use of these products would not be expected to cause adverse health effects. The general public may be exposed to small amounts of bromine due to its use in some products such as pool sanitisers. It may also be released into the environment during its production, use or transport. How bromine gets into the environmentīromine occurs naturally in the earth’s crust and is also present in seawater. It is also used in the production of fire retardants, dyestuffs, photography, pharmaceuticals and for bleaching fibres and silk. Its use is often preferred in spas as it does not give off the same characteristic odour as chlorine. Uses of bromineīromine is widely used as water sanitiser for pools and spas. It has a strong suffocating odour and dissolves in water to form bromic acid. We have always felt that baking is much better when you use quality ingredients, and given all of the health risks involved with the use of bromates in bread production, the most important of those ingredients is an unbromated flour.Bromine is a naturally occurring element that forms a dark reddish-brown liquid at room temperature. Ascorbic acid is a slow acting oxidizer so you won't get much benefit in the mixer, but your dough will have more tolerance for overnight retarding. If this doesn't fit your production requirements then you can consider using ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). This increases the acidity of your dough giving it more tolerance for longer proof times and overnight retarding. Some bakers find that they don't have as much fermentation tolerance using unbromated flour. Those changes should be all that is required by you to make the switch. As you do not want to increase the final temperature of your dough through this additional mixing you must lower your initial water temperature. Doughs made from unbromated flours will require slightly more mixing to achieve the same strength. Bromate, as an oxidizer, rapidly strengthens the dough in the mixer bowl, thus reducing mixing times. The only changes that most bakers find they need to make are slightly longer mixing times. If you are a baker currently using bromated flours and would like to switch you will have to make some slight adjustments to your mixing process, but in our view the effort is worth it as you will be able to provide your employees a safer working environment, and your customers with a healthier product. If you are a baker who has never used bromated flour then you have nothing to worry about. The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) highlights all of the research that led to the addition of potassium bromate to the Prop 65 listing in a document called Chemical Meeting the Criteria for Listing - Bromate.įlour sold by the King Arthur Flour company has never contained bromate for all of the reasons listed above. View all bromate informationfrom the California OEHHA. As a result, most California bakers have switched to bromate-free processes. As such, baked goods sold in California have to bear a store-level cancer warning if they contain more than a certain level of bromate. In addition, in 1991, California declared bromate a carcinogen under the state's Proposition 65. However, instead of banning bromate outright, the FDA has since 1991 merely encouraged bakers to voluntarily stop using it, with somewhat limited success.īromate has been banned in numerous countries, including the United Kingdom in 1990 and Canada in 1994. It was first found to induce tumors in rats in 1982. The primary concern regarding the use of bromate in baking is its demonstrated link to cancer in laboratory animals. However, if too much is used, or the bread is not baked long enough or at a high enough temperature, then a residual amount will remain. Bromate, when applied within the prescribed limits (15-30ppm), is completely used up during the bake leaving no trace in the finished product. Azodicarbonamide (ADA), potassium and calcium iodate, and calcium peroxide are rapid-acting oxidizers, while ascorbic acid (vitamin C) works at intermediate rates, but all release their activity in mixing and proofing. Potassium bromate, commonly referred to as simply "bromate," is a slow-acting oxidizer, contributing its functionality throughout the mixing, fermentation and proofing stages, with important residual action during the early stages of baking. Potassium bromate (KBrO3), is a flour "improver" that strengthens dough and allows for greater oven spring and higher rising in the oven. ![]()
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