Banned chemicals in bread: Experts say go back to basics

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 26

Anything that has preservatives and unnatural is not good for human consumption and can lead to development of cancerous cells in the body. Cancer is a lifestyle disease and experts stress on “returning to basics” to stay healthy, fit and fine.

A lot of controversy has been created after the Centre for Science and Environment, on Monday, came up with an alarming study confirming the presence of cancerous chemicals in 84 per cent of 38 widely-consumed brands of pre-packaged breads, including pizzas, buns and paos, as they tested positive for potassium bromate and potassium iodate, both banned in many countries because of their “hazardous” effect on human health. Reacting to this study, experts recommend staying away from synthetic and unnatural food.

Dr Harish Matta, Head of the Oncosurgery Department at Fortis Hospital, said anything which was not natural was not good for health.

“Cancer is a lifestyle disease and the incidence of the disease is increasing because our dependence on fast and junk food. People are eating foods that have a lot of preservatives and are processed. Anything that is unnatural and synthetic is not good for health and can lead to health complications,” said Dr Matta.

“The mantras for life should be eat organic and have a healthy lifestyle,” Dr Matta said.

Dietician Raminder Kaur from Diet and Nutrition Clinic, Brindaban Road, never recommends bread to her clients.

“Many clients insist on having bread because it is easy to make recipes out of bread, but I avoid recommending them because it has no fibre content, no nutritional value, satisfying level is zero and above all it is not our staple food,” she says.

She said: “Eat local, fresh, and organic food and I strongly recommend people to return to the basics. We need to return to the kitchen, cook and eat homemade meals rather than packaged or restaurant food.”

A local grocery store owner from Ferozepur Road said he generally sells 30-40 bread loafs in a day and today he saw some of his clients were busy checking something at the back of the bread packet showing its ingredients and nutritional value.

What experts have to say

"Cancer is a lifestyle disease and the incidence of the disease is increasing because our dependence on fast and junk food. People are eating foods that have a lot of preservatives and are processed. Anything that is unnatural and synthetic is not good for health and can lead to health complications" —Dr Harish Matta, head of the oncosurgery department at fortis hospital

"Many clients insist on having bread because it is easy to make recipes out of bread, but I avoid recommending them because it has no fibre content, no nutritional value, satisfying level is zero and above all it is not our staple food. Eat local, fresh, and organic food and I strongly recommend people to return to the basics. We need to return to the kitchen, cook and eat homemade meals rather than packaged or restaurant food." —Raminder Kaur, a dietician