A study disclosed by the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority found 84 per cent of 19 popular and unpopular brands of bread in Dhaka city laced with potassium bromate known to cause cancer.
The Food Safety Authority collected the bread samples from different areas of Dhaka city on June 8 this year. After being tested in different laboratories, potassium Bromate was found in the samples. When this element enters the human body, it helps in the development of cancer, kidney, brain, genetic diseases, thyroid gland diseases.
Potassium bromate levels in the bread ranged from 3.31 ppm (parts per million) to 12.91 ppm.
Manzur Morshed Ahmed, a member of the Safe Food Authority (Public Health and Nutrition), who was involved in the experiment said that although the results obtained in the test initially in Dhaka, it is believed that the ingredients are used in a wide range in Bangladesh.
He said bread samples would be tested in rural areas next. We will find the source of potassium bromate so that the bread producers cannot use it. However, imports of this product cannot be stopped as other industries use it for different purposes.
Manufacturers have been warned about harmful substances. Action will be taken, if anyone mixes the injurious elements further, he added.
According to the Safe Food Authority, potassium bromate and potassium iodate are used to inflate the bread.
Besides, some other ‘improvers’ are also used to adjust the taste and size of the bread. As the price of this potassium bromate and potassium iodate is relatively low, its use is high in the country.
Based on the results of the test, the Safe Food Authority has also issued a notification directing to stop the use of potassium bromate and potassium iodate in bread, and other bakery products.
According to the Bangladesh Auto-Biscuit and Bread Manufacturers Association, about 1,000 tonnes of bread is produced in the country every day. These loaves have a shelf life of up to three days.
The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) set a standard for making bread in 2016. The use of Ammonium Persulfate, Potassium Bromate, Potassium Iodate, Calcium Carbonate, Acid Calcium Phosphate and Calcium Phosphate was then allowed as bread improvers directing to use of five milligrams of potassium bromate per kg bread. But in 2018, the BSTI banned the use of potassium bromate and iodate in bread.
Why are these ingredients being used even after being banned?
Answering the question Shafiqur Rahman Bhuiyan, president of the Bangladesh Auto-Biscuit and Bread Manufacturers Association, said, "We cannot bring the manufacturing companies under membership. Now let the policymakers and the supervisors talk about the remedy to inflate the bread. And our members do not even know the instructions of BSTI in that way."
