ALSOFOUNDINAzodicarbonamide (ADA)
Banned AbroadBanned in the EU, Australia, and Singapore. Legal in US flour. Also listed on labels as ADA, E927a, Azobisformamide, The yoga mat chemical.
E-number: E927a
What it is
A dough conditioner and flour bleaching agent that strengthens gluten and speeds industrial baking. It has a second career as a blowing agent that puts the foam in yoga mats and shoe soles — same compound, different factory. The nickname was a stunt, and it was also accurate.
Why it's in food
Industrial bakeries need dough that behaves identically at speed. ADA delivers strength and volume in minutes where slower methods take hours, and it whitens flour on the way.
US vs EU status
United States
FDA-approved at up to 45 parts per million in flour. The concern is what it becomes: during baking it breaks down into semicarbazide and small amounts of urethane, also called ethyl carbamate, which is classified as a probable human carcinogen. The FDA holds that the resulting levels are very low. A 2014 consumer campaign aimed at Subway drove the chain and then dozens of others to drop it — again, market first, regulator never.
European Union
Banned in food. The EU prohibits ADA outright, and so do Australia and Singapore, where the penalties for using it in food are severe enough to include fines and imprisonment. It's one of the widest US-versus-elsewhere gaps on this entire board: a compound that is a criminal matter in one country and a standard flour ingredient in another.
Common products
- Commercial sandwich bread, buns, and rolls
- Restaurant and fast-food bread — less common since 2014
- Bagged bread flour from some industrial suppliers
- Frozen dough products
- Not required to be obvious — read for 'azodicarbonamide' by name
Cleaner swaps
- Bread from bakeries and slower fermentation methods
- Flour and bread that lists no dough conditioners
- Brands that publicly removed it after 2014
Case note
Singapore treats putting this in bread as a punishable offense. The EU and Australia ban it. The FDA permits 45 parts per million and considers the breakdown products low enough. The most famous thing about this additive is a yoga mat comparison invented by a blogger — and the comparison is the least remarkable fact in the file.
FAQ
Is it really the same chemical as in yoga mats?
Yes — azodicarbonamide is used industrially as a blowing agent to foam plastics and rubber, including mats and shoe soles, and as a dough conditioner in flour. Identical compound, and the food-grade material is manufactured to food specifications. The comparison was designed to be alarming; it was not inaccurate.
What actually happens to it during baking?
It breaks down, and the breakdown products are the issue: semicarbazide, and trace urethane — ethyl carbamate — which is classified as a probable human carcinogen. The FDA's position is that the quantities formed are very low. The EU, Australia, and Singapore concluded the trade wasn't worth making at all.
Is it still in American bread?
Less than it was. The 2014 campaign pushed Subway and then many major chains and brands to remove it, but it remains legal and still appears in commercial breads and flours. It's listed by name when present, so the ingredient line settles it.
Why was Subway singled out?
Because it was the largest and most visible user, and the 'yoga mat' framing traveled. The company removed ADA within months, and the industry followed. As with BVO and BHT, the sequence is the story: consumer pressure moved a national supply chain years before any US regulator considered acting, and here the regulator still hasn't.
How the FDA decides what reaches your table and your medicine cabinet — and how it learned to decide.
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