More Than 500 Foods Contain the Same Chemical That's in Yoga Mats. Ew

Vitamin G, Glamour Magazine

by Lexi Petronis



Devon Jarvis
Devon Jarvis

Earlier this year, foodbabe.com blogger Vani Hari successfully persuaded Subway to stop baking breads with azodicarbonamide--or "ADA"--a chemical foaming agent that's known for creating spongy, light materials in things such as yoga mats...like the ones Vanessa Hudgens and her friend are carrying here. "Carrying" being the operative word here. Not eating.

Since then, the Environmental Working Group has researched more than 80,000 food items and discovered that ADA is on the ingredient lists of lots of well-known supermarket brands of breads, croutons, snacks, and sandwiches. Five hundred of them, as a matter of fact--pizzas, tortillas, hot dog buns, and more (you can see the full list, organized by brand, at www.ewg.org).

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As a chemical additive, ADA has been generally accepted in U.S. food items because it hasn't necessarily been determined to harm people who eat it in small doses (though workers handling ADA may be at risk for medical issues such as respiratory problems--and no long-term studies have been done to see what happens to people who consume ADA regularly). ADA is banned in Australia and Europe, but the FDA allows concentrations up to 45 parts per million in U.S. foods.

Other restaurant chains--such as Wendy's, McDonald's, Arby's, and Burger King--have been known to use azodicarbonamide in their foods, too, and the EWG is set to launch a campaign against the chemical's use.

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Regulations are currently such that food products can put "natural" on its packaging, even if there are chemicals present, because there's not yet an official definition of what "natural" actually is. Your best bet? Carefully those ingredient labels, and stick to the least processed products with the fewest number of additives--or even make your own homemade foods whenever you can.


So what do you think of this "yoga mat" chemical news? Are there food additives you try to avoid?

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