The bread preservative (282)

[Sherrie]

FOOD INTOLERANCE NETWORK FACTSHEET

The bread preservative (282)


280 Propionic acid

281 Sodium propionate

282 Calcium propionate

283 Potassium propionate

Whey powder (may be cultured with propionibacteria but not listed on the label)

The use of calcium propionate (282) as a preservative in bread became widespread in Australia in the early 1990s. This preservative is rarely used in Europe or New Zealand, used increasingly in the UK, and common in Australia and the US.

Calcium propionate and the other propionates (280-283) occur naturally in many foods and dairy products like Swiss cheese. In small amounts they are not harmful but, as with other additives, the effects are dose related. Very few people will be affected by two slices of preserved bread but effects are cumulative, build up slowly and remain unnoticed. Like all additives, this preservative was not tested before approval for its effects on children's behaviour and learning.

How does it affect people?

Reactions can be anything from the usual range of food intolerance symptoms: migraine and headaches; gastro-intestinal symptoms including stomach aches, irritable bowel, diarrhoea, urinary urgency, bedwetting; eczema and other itchy skin rashes; nasal congestion (stuffy or runny nose); depression, unexplained tiredness, impairment of memory and concentration, speech delay; tachycardia (fast heart beat); growing pains, loud voice (no volume control); irritability, restlessness, inattention, difficulty settling to sleep, night waking and night terrors.

Propionates are one of the most difficult additives to avoid because their use is so widespread and they are in one of our most basic foods, our daily bread. In less than one generation, most Australians have gone from eating none of this preservative to eating it every day of their lives.

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 is for the convenience of the manufacturer not the consumer.

How will I know if I am affected?

Very few people realise they or their children are affected by this additive, because if you eat it every day, your problems will seem to come and go without any obvious cause. Some people notice a difference within days if they switch to preservative free bread. Others will get better results by doing the elimination diet with challenges. Babies can be affected through breastmilk.

Two stories

* My breastfed baby son screamed for the first 3½ months of his life all day and half of the night until my doctor got me onto a dietitian for the elimination diet. He reacts when I eat most additives but the bread preservative is the worst. He screams in agony within 24 hours and often gets a red rash on his face, back and stomach. Before we tried the diet, we were hospitalised twice because I just couldn't cope. - Dani Hewton, WA
* My daughter is nearly 5 years old. When we did the elimination diet we found that she reacts to the bread preservative, some other preservatives and MSG. Her reactions to the bread preservative range from temper tantrums to very moody pre-diet behaviour. This includes hitting and annoying her brother and sister if they are trying to do homework or just generally whingy and very demanding behaviour and refusing to do as requested. At night, she wakes up from 1 to 5 times per night and walks the house. When we put her back on to preservative-free bread her behaviour changed back to good behaviour within 3 or 4 days. - Moya Connell, Qld

In Australia, propionates were only recently permitted in other products such as In Australia such as cheese or fruit juice and we have not yet received any complaints about reactions to these items. A mother in the US who was keeping her son on a propionate-free diet noticed a big reaction after a pizza. When she asked, they told her their pizza crusts were propionate-free but the cheese was "just loaded with it" .

Watch out for whey

Propionibacteria can be cultured in whey powder as a method of using natural 282 preservative without having to declare it on the label. Avoid breads containing whey or whey powder, even if marked "preservative free".

Q. We are still unclear about the relationship between whey and calcium propionate. I read that whey in bread should be avoided because it acts like natural calcium propionate. What I'm not sure about is the effect of whey when in foods other than bread. Specifically, we have been buying carob buttons from a local health food store and whey is an ingredient. My wife in particular is concerned about this. She does not want to bake them into cookies for fear of having a reaction. Is this a legitimate concern?



A. The only whey powder you have to avoid is whey powder that has been cultured with propionibacteria, but unfortunately, you can't tell whether it has been cultured or not because some manufacturers specify 'cultured whey powder' and some don't. Obviously, it should be mandatory to list cultured whey powder, but that's a battle for another day. In the meantime, it is probably safe to assume that whey powder in baked products such as bread, cakes and croissants has been cultured, and whey powder in anything else, including carob buttons, icecream and any other dairy products has not been cultured and is OK to eat.

Where can I buy safe bread?

See factsheet on safe bread.

www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info

The information given is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with your doctor for underlying illness. Before beginning dietary investigation, consult a dietician with an interest in food intolerance.

update 3 November 2004

http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.in...ts/Fact282.htm

[Sherrie]

From Fed up with Food Additives website:

Bread preservative research


Update 2005


Bread preservative and the need for change

Manufacturers of Australia's two biggest selling brands of bread – Tip Top and Mighty Soft - are currently phasing out their use of the bread preservative calcium propionate (282) due to consumer concerns.


“Congratulations!” wrote one dietitian. “The hard work has finally paid off! Consumer opinion wouldn't have swayed in this direction if it weren't for consumer awareness, which you have undoubtedly contributed to greatly”. Since I have spent the last 15 years campaigning against the use of this additive, which I regard as the very worst of all additives, of course I am pleased, but there are wider implications of this action.


What has happened with the bread preservative is important because it shows that current medical thinking about food additives is wrong. The prevailing scientific model says that only a few children are affected by food additives so the greater good of the community is served the continued use of these additives. However, the move against the bread preservative shows that many more children are affected than authorities admit, and that the greater good of the community would be best served by the removal of harmful additives.



A paradigm shift

It also means that the use of other harmful additives should be re-evaluated. A change in scientific thinking like this is called a paradigm shift, and usually occurs because of something other than scientific research. In the case of food additives, it seems that the shift will be due to consumer demand.


When the Food Intolerance Network used the Freedom of Information Act to ask our food regulators (FSANZ) for scientific evidence to show that 282 is safe, they were unable to provide any scientific studies at all. Consumers often say, ‘the government wouldn’t allow it if it wasn’t safe’, but they are misled. As far as children’s behaviour and learning goes, the government is not looking.


Meanwhile, our kids are in crisis. Last year, a quarter of children who attended outpatient services at Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne were there for learning difficulties and behavioural problems rather than medical conditions. A recent ACER survey showed that 30% of Year 9 students lacked basic literacy skills.


The bread preservative is not the only additive to cause problems. Twenty years ago, when more than 800 schools in New York City removed artificial colours and two preservatives from their school lunches, the numbers of learning disabled kids halved. This finding was ignored by authorities and since then, the use of harmful food additives has increased dramatically. Many new additives have been introduced or used in larger doses, including the bread preservative. In my experience this is the worst of all additives, often associated with speech delay or learning difficulties and behaviour problems.


There are many so many stories below regarding the effects of the bread preservative that we have stopped adding new ones, although they are still pouring in. You can see some of them in the Failsafe Newsletters, but the one that has shocked me most is the story of a little boy whose mother ate 10 slices of preserved bread a day during her pregnancy. By the time he was 18 months old, this boy was eating 10 slices of preserved bread a day too. That’s a lot of bread for a toddler to eat, but why not? Bread is supposed to be a healthy food. At that time, this little boy was an extremely poor sleeper with uncontrollable behaviour and up to ten seizures per day. When a friend mentioned the bread preservative to his mother, she switched to preservative free bread, and within days, his behaviour and sleeping improved. In the six months since then, he has had only three seizures.


Food authorities say it is up to consumers to prove that large numbers of children are affected by the bread preservative. How many children’s lives have to be ruined before it is too many? I would like to see our food authorities try prove that calcium propionate is safe for young children to eat.

Update 2004

Recent research has confirmed what some parents have been saying for years, that the bread preservative calcium propionate, number 282, affects some children and adults. This preservative, in various forms including propionic acid and cultured whey powder, is found in an increasing range of Australian and New Zealand foods.

The official response from the health ministers is that a certain number of people will have adverse reactions to food additives. Their advice: read the labels and avoid additives that cause you problems. My finding, published in a medical journal in 2002: none of the parents in my bread study were aware that a preservative in bread could affect children's health and behaviour, and none had realised that their children were affected. How are parents supposed to know to avoid this additive?

Now rat studies in Brazil have shown that propionates can cause permanent brain alterations and learning deficits when given to young rats in doses which are not much greater than can be eaten by a young Australian child eating bread which contains the maximum permitted dose of calcium propionates.

Collected below is research, stories and facts about calcium propionates.

http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.in...rch/bread1.htm

[luv2bslim]

update..L2bs can't eat certain preservatives without a shocking asthma attack...

[Sherrie]

Which ones? If one is 282 that means empower wraps are out!

[jojoamethyst]

it was white bread at my place

[Sherrie]

Tracy was eating white bread at your place? Um Ah

What happened?

[Moonie]

update..L2bs can't eat certain preservatives without a shocking asthma attack...

poor you!!! have you had many????

[luv2bslim]

Originally Posted by moonstruck

poor you!!! have you had many????

not many lately..I can't quite work out which one it is, or if it's a combo. I do know that one butter sets it off, and certain dips..it's weird. It's not 220-228

[Moonie]

It's a bit scaryto keep trying to see if something sets of an asthma attack by elimination, it's not as if it is only a rash. As you know some asthma attacks can be pretty bad if not life threatening..

Have you been tested for any of the triggers????

[Sherrie]

Butter?

Do you know which one? I know I bought a jar of ghee once and found that it has 2 bad preservatives in it, here found my post about it on the failsafe thread:

Originally Posted by Sherrie

The book Additive Alert came ine handy for me the other day.

I wanted to do some frying and I saw some ghee in the fridge that had been there a while so I went to check the date when I noticed the ingredients, the ghee with is simply clarified butter had 3 numbers in it, 310, 320 and 330.

330 is citric acid but I had no clue what 310 and 320 were so I looked them up in my trusty new book!

Here's what it says:

310: Propyl gallate

Suspected carcinogen, asthmatics and aspirin sensitive people should avoid, liver damage, skin irritations. Prohibited in food for infants and yound children as linked to blood disorder.

320: Butylated hydroxyanisole

Serious concerns about carcinogenic and estrogenic effects, asthmatics and aspirin sensitive people should avoid, causes metabolic changes and accumulates in body fat. Banned in Japan in 1958. Not permitted in foods for infants and young children.

My gosh!

Was 310 or 320 in your butter?

[Sherrie]

Oh I should note those two are common in fats and oils and it is not always listed as an ingredient due to a loophole.

[luv2bslim]

I can't remember...LOL...I now get preservative free stuff..I was thinking about going to the Doc, but you know me :-)

[luv2bslim]

LOL..oh, and "Jamaca Blue" coffee shop, tandori chicken wrap..

DON'T EVER EAT THAT!!!
OMG..I coughed and coughed so hard I nearly puked..Sarah took me in there because her friend got a job there..now Sarah wishes she didn't..she was so embarassed LOL..

[luv2bslim]

and woolies home made "pizza rolls" LOL..all the bad stuff..

[luv2bslim]

and I ate a choocy bar (mini) at a school performance, and I had to cough when they were all clapping LOL..