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Opinions, please?

TheGuamTarheels@webtv.net (The Ol' Tarheel)
Mon, 20 Aug 2001 17:19:25 -0400 (EDT)
v101.n041.2
A friend sent me the following.  This guy seems to be saying that
bromated flour is okay.  I disagree.  Any comments?
            Bob the Tarheel Baker


 > From "Oil Slick"  (washingtonpost.com)
 > By Robert L. Wolke
 > Wednesday, May 30, 2001; Page F01


QUESTION: How does bleached flour differ from unbleached flour?
Unbleached wheat flour looks pretty white to me, so why do flour 
manufacturers bother with the bleaching step? Does the bleaching process 
leave any unsavory residues or leach out any nutrients?

ANSWER: Wheat flour is naturally yellowish, but people apparently don't
like yellow flour, except for the semolina used in pasta-making, which 
isn't usually bleached. Yellow bread and snow-white pasta wouldn't sell 
very well. If given half a chance, though, flour bleaches itself. That is, 
as it ages in air, the yellow color is oxidized away. But that takes time 
and time is money, so manufacturers speed up the process by using an 
oxidizing or bleaching agent such as potassium bromate (in which case the 
flour is said to be brominated), chlorine dioxide or benzoyl peroxide. 
These bleaching agents aren't mere cosmetics. Flour that has been "aged," 
either naturally or by being treated with oxidizers, makes doughs that 
handle better and produce better bread. Unbleached flour generally costs 
more than bleached flour because it has been whitened by natural aging, 
which entails the costs of storage. Some people are concerned with the 
intimidating natures of these chemicals. But they are all unstable and, 
after doing their jobs, do not remain in the flour. The bromate, after 
reacting with the yellow compounds in the flour, is converted into harmless 
bromide. Chlorine dioxide is a gas that dissipates, so there is none of 
that left in the flour either. Any excess of benzoyl peroxide would 
decompose as soon as the flour is heated. The claim that bleaching flour 
destroys its Vitamin E is true but empty, because wheat flour contains 
negligible amounts of Vitamin E to begin with.

Robert L. Wolke:  http://www.professorscience.com  is professor emeritus of 
chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh