Calcium_Propionate

Australian study: common bread additive causes behavior problems in many children

A common bread preservative, calcium propionate, can cause aberrant behavior in children, according to a recent study in Australia.

Sue Dengate and Alan Ruben identified 27 children whose behavior improved when they were placed on the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital diet, which eliminates food additives, natural salicylates, amines, and glutamates. In a double-blind crossover study, the researchers measured each child’s response to bread containing either a placebo or calcium propionate.

The researchers say, “A statistically significant difference existed in the proportion of children whose behaviors worsened with challenge (52 percent), compared to the proportion whose behavior improved with challenge (19 percent).” The adverse behavioral effects in the children receiving the bread containing calcium propionate occurred within days, and appear to be cumulative.

Dengate told ABC News in Perth, “What we found when we did this study is that [the effect] is not hyperactivity, which is what people think of when they think of children’s behavior and food additives. It’s irritability. So these kids will appear to be fine when they’re enjoying themselves, but if they’re asked to do something they don’t like… then they will over-react.” In addition, she says, “There is also restlessness and inattention, so they don’t want to do their homework, they can’t read properly, and there are also sleep disturbances.”

http://www.crimetimes.org/03a/w03ap9.htm

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“Controlled trial of cumulative behavioural effects of a common bread preservative,” S. Dengate and A. Ruben, Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, Vol. 38, No. 4, August 2002, 373-6. Address: Sue Dengate, P.O. Box 85, Parap, Northern Territory 0804, Australia.

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“Bread causes bad behaviour in children,” ABC Perth, August 14, 2002.

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Jasmin says,

If your child often irritable, and exhibit all sorts of symptoms as listed above, AND eats bread (and some types of cheese) everyday, you might want to investigate if this additive is causing it. Apparently, this additive can cause reactions in adults too, and people are surprised to hear this because many do not equate bread with this additive with irritability. So, if you or your husband or whoever in your family is always irritable, and don’t know why, check to see what is eaten daily. Try to abstain from bread that have this additive to see if it helps.

The problem with the name calcium propionate is that it is so misleading. When I told my mother-in-law about this, she got a bit confused because she thought I was telling her that calcium in bread was bad for her. You see? If she got confused, I bet tons of other people do too. Moral of the story? Not all calcium is good for you.

The picture above was taken from a Malaysian Gardenia bread.

Check out the Gardenia bread from Singapore below.


SGGardeniaBreadThis bread looks like the perfect bread to eat, right?
Look again

 


SGGardeniaBread2

 

 

Isn’t it important to keep our bread fresh?

Contrary to what the food industry would like you to believe, this additive is not to keep your bread fresh. Calcium propionate (282) is added to inhibit the growth of mould. There is no mould on a freshly baked loaf of bread, so why use a mould inhibitor? Bakers who keep their work benches and slicer blades clean and mould-free, by wiping with vinegar every day, do not need this additive. However, bakers in large factories prefer the less time-consuming method of “fogging” their equipment with a chemical spray. Putting hot loaves in plastic bags makes the problem worse. Preservative 282 allows for sloppy hygiene. It is for the convenience of the manufacturer not the consumer.

http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/factsheets/Fact282.htm

 

 

So what can we eat? Home made bread would be a good start. Also, check out local bakeries (but ask them if they add this additive in). I checked out the Malaysian Giant supermarket, and they do add calcium propionate in their bread. I could not tell if the Singaporean Giant supermarket have this additive because they do not list the ingredients down on the bread bag. The fact of the matter is, most commercial breads have additives in them.  

Try this Singaporean bread.

DPlusBread

 

 

And the ingredients are as below

DPlusBread2

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More on additives and bread that you eat

 

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Filed under: Cooking • Family • General • Health

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