Earlier this year, we found out that Subway has been using an industrial chemical that is commonly found in yoga mats as an ingredient in most of their breads. They announced that they would begin the process of eliminating azodicarbonamide, or ADA, from its bread products. Great! I mean, it's not great that so many of us have probably unwittingly eaten a chemical that isn't even technically food, but at least they were getting rid of it. Well, guess what? Regardless of the Subway situation, you've probably been eating and feeding your kids this junk anyway because now it is being reported that ADA is used in almost 500 other popular food products. Ugh! Gag me with a rubber mat, why don't you?!
Read more ¿Qué más?: 5 "Foods" that are NOT food
So, ADA is a chemical foaming agent. It makes tiny gas bubbles that result in spongy yoga mats or springy rubber soles for shoes. At some point, it started being used in dough because it makes bread products easier to handle, puffier, and able to handle shipping and storage, but again it is NOT food.
ADA has not undergone extensive testing so it is not known what detrimental effects it can have on humans when eaten, but again it is NOT food.
I find it astounding that companies can nonchalantly put it in food because there is no actual proof that it is bad for us, but hello, it is NOT food. Why would you feed me something that is not food just because it makes your industrial baking or food production process easier? I'm sure there are many things that are NOT food that have not been proven to be harmful when eaten and you know what? I don't want to eat them either or feed them to my kids!
It's crazy how many brands have used ADA in their food products, here are just a few of the brands that I am familiar with and that you may have eaten or fed to your kids:
- Amigos (Tortillas),
- Bagel-Fuls
- Ball Park
- Betty Crocker
- Bimbo
- Fiber One
- Hormel
- Hungry-Man
- Ihop
- Jimmy Dean
- Pillsbury
- Wonder Bread
The list goes on and on. Feel free to check it out in its entirity. Honestly, it's enough to make me want to start cooking everything from scratch.
Image via Thinkstock
