KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Changes are in the works at Subway restaurants. The company plans to drop a chemical from its bread dough, a chemical that is found in things like shoe soles and yoga mats.
The chemical is called Azodicarbonamide. Subway said in a statement released to FOX News and CNN that they’re removing it as part of the company’s bread improvement effort.
However, it coincides with a petition that a blogger, called “Food Babe,” put together calling for the company to quit using the chemical. Reports show it’s banned in other countries, but it’s been declared safe by the USDA and FDA.
The chemical, used to give bread more structure, has been linked to asthma and other respiratory problems. We talked to a local bread maker about why some other companies use additives like the chemical in its bread.
“Trying to preserve it, or make it get big, or look brown or whatever else. We don’t need to do any of those things. It’s going to look like it is going to look because it’s natural,” Don Kinney with Great Harvest Bread Co. said.
Kinney said using all natural ingredients is a more expensive route, but you get what you pay for. The World Health Organization says there’s “abundant evidence” linking the chemical to asthma. The Center for Science in the Public Interest says the FDA should ban it because of the risk it poses.
