Why is it forbidden to use baking soda in bread?

Mohsen Farhadi, the deputy of the Ministry of Health’s Environmental and Labor Health Center, said in an interview with the scientific magazine “Rozeneh” about the ban on using baking soda in bread: “This ban is not new and may have been in place for years.”

He added: The argument of the Ministry of Health and nutrition experts for banning the use of baking soda in bread is that it prevents the natural fermentation of bread, reduces the quality of bread, reduces the shelf life of bread, and prevents the absorption of minerals needed by the body.

The deputy of the Center for Environmental and Labor Health of the Ministry of Health noted: Opponents of banning the use of baking soda in bread say that baking soda is used in many foods such as some biscuits and cakes, and many countries around the world use baking soda.

Farhadi said: The Health and Food Safety Council of the country has approved this issue for a long time, and the issue is not even just baking soda, but also the amount of salt, and the inspectors of the Ministry of Health are controlling this issue.

This official mentioned: One of the side effects of the Corona outbreak was the reduction of such controls, fortunately, with the subsidence of Covid-19, our colleagues tightened the controls, but a key point is the key role of the Chamber of Guilds of Iran and the relevant unions in preventing the use of baking soda in bread. Especially Lavash and barbarism.

Stating that Sangak bread is usually without baking soda, he added: The reason why bakeries, especially busy ones, are interested in using baking soda is that it greatly increases the speed of bread cooking. Some bakeries also use baking soda because lavash bread sticks to ovens.

Emphasizing that bread fermentation should be done using natural and permitted yeasts, Farhadi said: baking soda gives a special effect to some breads and increases its appeal to people.

Referring to the fact that some bakers used the low quality of flour as an excuse for using baking soda, the deputy of the Center for Environmental and Labor Health of the Ministry of Health said: the total inspections and samplings show that even the worst quality flour does not need to use baking soda.

Farhadi reminded: Many bakeries that were created in chain stores are almost without baking soda, and if people doubt this, they can call 190 and we will investigate the issue.

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