500種食物中的 偶氮甲醯胺azodicarbonamide (also known as ADA)、chemical foaming agent

500 Foods That Contain a Chemical Found in Yoga Mats
Your grocery store shelves are crawling with them.
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October 21, 2014 |

偶氮甲醯胺是一種食品添加劑，E編碼為E927，分子式C₂H₄O₂N₄，外觀為黃色到橙紅色晶體粉末，無味^[1]。

目錄

  [隱藏] 

• 1 食品添加劑
• 2 其它用途
• 3 安全性
• 4 參見
• 5 參考
• 6 外部連結

食品添加劑[編輯]

偶氮甲醯胺是一種麵粉增白劑和麵粉改進劑。與濕麵粉作用時是一種氧化劑^[2]。反應主要產物為聯二脲^[3]，是尿素的衍生物。聯二脲在烘培過程中穩定。反應次要產物有氨基脲^[4]和氨基甲酸乙酯^[5]。中國、美國和加拿大允許使用不超過45 mg/kg的偶氮甲醯胺^[6][7][8]，而澳大利亞和歐洲則禁止使用該種添加劑^[9]。

其它用途[編輯]

偶氮甲醯胺在食品添加劑以外的主要用途，是在製作發泡塑料時用作發泡劑。它在受熱分解時產生氮氣、一氧化碳、二氧化碳和氨氣，這些氣體被困在材料中，產生氣泡，從而完成發泡。

偶氮甲醯胺在用於塑料和人造革時，可以在改性後使用。改性後的偶氮甲醯胺可以在更低的溫度下反應（平均在170℃分解），而純的偶氮甲醯胺需要約200℃的溫度才會開始反應。在塑料、皮革、和其他工業領域中，改性後的偶氮甲醯胺含有一些添加劑，來加速其反應速度，或者降低反應所需要的溫度。

在歐洲，從2005年8月起，凡是會與食物直接接觸的塑料物品中均不允許使用偶氮甲醯胺進行發泡^[10]。

安全性[編輯]

美國食品藥品監督管理局將偶氮甲醯胺分類為「一般而言是安全的」，並允許在食物中使用不超過45 mg/kg的偶氮甲醯胺^[11]。

英國健康安全局發現在工廠環境下，偶氮甲醯胺可以導致呼吸道過敏，有可能誘發哮喘，因此要求盛放其的容器上標註「吸入可能導致過敏」^[12]。世界衛生組織將偶氮甲醯胺與在生產或直接接觸該物質的工廠中的工人的「呼吸系統疾病、過敏和哮喘」相關聯。目前可用的數據僅限於這些工廠環境。由於缺乏數據，無法評估該物質對一般大眾的暴露結果^[13]。

Remember back in February when Subway announced that its bread would no longer be made with a chemical foaming agent also found in yoga mats and shoe rubber? Their comments made a splash for two reasons: first, because it marked the success of a consumer-driven campaign to get the company to reform its practices; and second, because most of us were surprised to find out that the chemical was being used in the first place.

The chemical, azodicarbonamide (also known as ADA), has been banned in Europe and Australia, but is FDA-approved so long as its presence is limited to fewer than 2.05 grams per 100 pounds of flour or 45 parts per million. The World Health Organization links it to respiratory illnesses, allergies and asthma in workers handling large volumes of it. ”When you look at the ingredients, if you can’t spell it or pronounce it, you probably shouldn’t eat it,” Vani Hari, the activist blogger who started the Subway campaign, said.

But it isn’t just Subway — as the company pointed out, it can still be found in products at Starbuck’s, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Arby’s, Burger King, and Dunkin Donuts. And according to a report released by the Environmental Working Group, it can still be found in nearly 500 food products on grocery store shelves.

The list covers 130 brands of breads, buns, snacks, pastries and pre-made sandwiches, from America’s Choice to Wonder bread. As EWG explains, it’s commonly used as a “dough conditioner” to make bread both puffier and more able to withstand shipping and storage.

Last week, N.Y. Sen. Chuck Schumer called on the FDA to ban ADA altogether. If you wish to avoid it in the meantime, the complete list can be found here.