Off Topic - Bread: What do you really "knead"?

I’ve been going through a bit of a bread crisis lately. Most people who pay lots of attention to ingredients already make the changes in their food. Not entirely with me though. I think it’s something that I’ve taken for granted though. Probably since I’m a vegetaran and cook most of my own food (and for my family) we buy organic produce where possible (and affordable) and we don’t buy much in the way of prepared foods. But I hadn’t been paying much attention to bread.

Until just these last couple of weeks. One ingredient in particular has been glaring at me and found in just about every bread product out there. Calcium propionate. Now, with a word like “propionate” in its name, that just doesn’t sound natural. It doesn’t sound right. Turns out I was right. It’s not natural. It is also a registered pesticide. And with someone who has come down hard on things like “coconut-derived surfactants” and “food-grade preservative” in personal care products, why would I be okay with a pesticide in my bread?

For everyone’s pleasure (maybe “reference” would be a better term?) I thought I’d put together a few stats on calcium propionate (aka, calcium propanoate):

• Chemical formula: C6H10CaO4

• In its pure form, commonly a fine white powder

• Used as a preservative in foods because it prevents microbes from producing the energy they need to flourish, thereby inhibiting the growth of mould.

• Like many toxins, any side effects [are likely to] stem from chronic dosages; i.e., the small doses found in a single serving of bread (like a sandwich) are highly unlikely to cause any reaction; however, long term exposure (i.e., ingesting) can yield results such as:
• physical responses, such as headaches, stomach aches, digestive difficulties, skin rashes, & compromised immune systems, and/or

• behavioural responses, such as irritability, depression, fatigue, impairment of memory & concentration, restlessness, insomnia, night terrors, and more.

• The U.S. EPA rates calcium propionate as slightly toxic (not especially alarming as even many good and essential substances like vitamin C are also rated as such); however, its parent chemical, propionic acid (propionic acid + ionic calcium = calcium propionate) is highly toxic.

Of course my favourite among that list (and I bet yours too!) is the potential behavioural side effects. Few studies have been done on the matter - in fact I’ve only found actual reference to one – and that one study had a small sampling, of only 27 participants. That said, of the 27 children tested, 14 - a relative high proportion experienced a number of those side effects. Unfortunately, the results had to be considered inconclusive due to 4 subjects who responded similarly with the placebo. Nevertheless, in my opinion those numbers should at least be compelling enough to warrant further, larger scale study. I understand though that larger scale study requires significantly more money and I’m guessing the people & institutions with that kind of dough (pun intended) have better things to spend it on. On top of that, I can’t deny that there is a lot more evidence supporting the safety of the ingredient than its toxicity.

So for those of us who would rather be safe than sorry, what do we do? Well, the easiest answer is to make your own bread and make sure you sanitize your countertops with vinegar. Supporting your local baker is one suggestion too. But take that one with some caution: not all bakeries list their ingredients (yes they SHOULD, but there are loopholes for small scale enterprises, so they might not HAVE TO) and they may very well still use calcium propionate (or sodium propionate which isn’t much different and serves the same purpose). The flip side of that is that they might not be using calcium propionate but their sanitary conditions be not be great and you’ll end up with bread that goes mouldy really fast. I think this is what happened to me. If you have a deep freezer I would suggest the first but make an event out of it! Invite some friends over, have some wine (there are some toxins that even I can’t bring myself to cut out) and make a couple dozen loaves of bread. It would be epic. And it should be fun.

I confess though. It’s easier to give advice than take it. Me, I make a loaf when I can, sometimes avoid bread since I can’t find a loaf I’m happy with, and sometime suck it up and one pesticide-laden bread. In my opinion though. Be more safe than sorry. Especially if you have children, avoid breads with calcium propionate. This ingredient is bioaccumulative and poses some very interesting (and common) risks of behavioural side effects. One brand I should mention that does not use it is the Ezekial 4:9 kind. Not surprisingly it’s always found frozen and it’s made from sprouted grains – so it’s even healthier than most other breads! It is a bit pricy though at usually more than $5 or $6 per loaf. Comparatively speaking, making your own bread usually costs less than $1 per loaf (I’ve never really worked it out precisely but I’ve heard ranges from $0.10 to $1, averaging in the $0.30 ballpark). I stand by my suggestion of making your own bread though. It gives you a wonderful feeling of self worth when you’ve made it, smells wonderful, and you know that you only put healthy ingredients in there. And if you didn’t at least you know nothing else was “snuck in”.