Subway Says It’s Removing A Controversial Chemical From Its Bread

(Mandy Jansen)

These days it seems like if there’s an ingredient in food sold to the masses with even the slightest whiff of controversy around it, someone will root it out and start a campaign to get rid of it. Thus, Subway now says it will remove a chemical from its bread — one that’s banned in Europe but legal in the U.S. — after a food blogger started a petition against it.

Of course, in Subway’s statement about Azodiacarbonamide, an ingredient that apparently increases elasticity in the bread, there’s no mention of the popular food blogger behind FoodBabe.com, Vani Hari. She started a petition against the stuff which has earned 58,000 signatures to date, reports USA Today.

The chemical is also used in yoga mats, shoe rubber and synthetic leather, she says.

“We are already in the process of removing Azodiacarbonamide as part of our bread improvement efforts despite the fact that it is USDA and FDA approved ingredient,” the company says in a statement. “The complete conversion to have this product out of the bread will be done soon.”

While Subway isn’t saying, “Yes, we’re bowing to the pressure of this campaign,” there’s always a bigger campaign out there, one that might be somewhat silent but is reflected in the way consumers have changed their eating habits.

Eating healthy and making sure food is safe have become important to American consumers in recent years, and companies have started to respond. Just last month General Mills said it would remove genetically modified ingredients from Cheerios, reflecting the changing habits and desires of its customers.

“I commend Subway for finally responding to me and now over 58,000 concerned citizens. Their swift action is a testament to what power petitions and individuals can have,” Hari said. ” I’d like to note that current Subway sandwiches still have this ingredient, and I urge everyone not to eat their sandwich bread until they have finally removed the chemical.”

Subway to remove chemical from bread [USA Today]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist