The Flour We Never Used

Top news clips from July 19, 2026 about bromate

Over the past several weeks, you've probably seen headlines about New York's move to prohibit potassium bromate in food, similar legislation being considered in New Jersey, and proposals in states like Florida to restrict potassium bromate along with several other food additives. Whether these measures ultimately become law or not, it's clear that potassium bromate has become the focus of a much larger national conversation.

The news has generated a great deal of controversy because bromated flour has been a staple of many iconic New York pizza and bagel shops for decades. Many of the most iconic New York pizzerias and bagel bakeries have historically relied on bromated flour because of the way it performs.

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What is potassium bromate?

Potassium Bromate molecule

Potassium bromate (KBrO₃) is a synthetic chemical compound manufactured by reacting bromine with potassium hydroxide under controlled industrial conditions. It is a powerful oxidizing agent that has been used in commercial baking for well over a century.

While it has a variety of industrial applications, one of its longest-standing food uses has been as a dough improver. At first glance, that doesn't sound particularly concerning. But understanding what it actually does inside dough is important.

During mixing, gluten proteins begin linking together to form an elastic network capable of trapping carbon dioxide. That network is ultimately what gives bread, pizza dough, and bagels their structure, chew, and oven spring.

Potassium bromate strengthens that gluten network. It allows dough to tolerate longer mixing, hold more gas, rise higher, and produce a lighter, more uniform crumb. It also gives bakers greater consistency from batch to batch and makes dough more forgiving when conditions aren't ideal. In large commercial bakeries where thousands of loaves or bagels may be produced every day, those advantages are significant.

It's easy to understand why it became popular.

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So why is it controversial?

The concern isn't about how well potassium bromate works. It's about what it is.

For decades, toxicological studies have shown that potassium bromate causes kidney, thyroid, and other cancers in laboratory animals. Based on this evidence, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified potassium bromate as "possibly carcinogenic to humans." Many countries, including the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada, Brazil, South Korea, and others, have prohibited its use in food for years. California has already enacted its own ban. New York has now approved legislation to prohibit its use, New Jersey is considering similar measures, and Florida lawmakers have proposed broader legislation that would prohibit potassium bromate alongside several other food additives.

To be fair, supporters of potassium bromate point out that, when used correctly, it is largely converted into bromide during baking, leaving only trace residues in the finished product. Critics argue that incomplete conversion can occur and that a safer alternative is simply not to use it at all.

Personally, I don't find that to be a particularly difficult decision.

If we can produce exceptional bread with outstanding structure, flavor, aroma, and texture without introducing a synthetic chemical classified as a possible carcinogen into the process and while simultaneously making that bread safer, more digestible, and more nourishing through traditional fermentation why would we choose any other path?

Whether these bills ultimately pass or evolve isn't really the point. What's fascinating is that we're watching a growing number of states ask a very basic question: Do we really need this ingredient? It's certainly a worthwhile question.

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Our philosophy has always been different.

Image from 1916 publication trying to convince bakers to use it. Read More

The interesting thing is that everything potassium bromate is trying to accomplish, we accomplish in other ways.

Potassium bromate strengthens dough by creating additional cross-links within the gluten network. Those stronger gluten proteins are better able to trap carbon dioxide, allowing the dough to rise higher, tolerate more mixing, and produce a lighter, more consistent loaf.

Our goals are the same. Our methods couldn't be more different.

The industrial food system often solves problems by adding ingredients.

Artisan food solves those same problems by understanding and harnessing natural biological and chemical transformations.

Instead of relying on a synthetic oxidizing agent to strengthen gluten, we rely on traditional artisan techniques: autolysing, proper mixing, stretch-and-folds, careful shaping, and closely monitoring bacterial fermentation through pH all guided by an intimate understanding of the biological and chemical transformations taking place inside every batch of dough.

Dr. Bill carefully stacking proofing baskets before they are filled with sourdough batard

Our Approach

As our sourdough ferments, the lactic acid bacteria gradually acidify the dough, changing the behavior of the gluten proteins. At the same time, naturally occurring enzymes modify both starches and proteins, while the yeast steadily produces carbon dioxide that gently expands and organizes the developing gluten network. Through techniques like autolysing and stretch-and-folds, that network becomes even stronger and more capable of trapping gas.

The difference isn't simply how the dough is strengthened. The difference is everything else that happens along the way. Potassium bromate primarily strengthens gluten. Traditional sourdough baking doesn't simply strengthen dough. It teaches us how to build, manage, and balance a living system.

Early in the process, autolysing, proper mixing, stretch-and-folds, and careful dough handling develop a strong gluten network capable of trapping the carbon dioxide produced by the yeast. As the pH approaches and drops below approximately 4.6, the dough's naturally occurring protease enzymes become increasingly active, slowly cutting gluten proteins into smaller peptides and individual amino acids. Those transformations improve digestibility, increase nutrient bioavailability, and contribute to the remarkable nutritional qualities of genuine sourdough but, they also begin to weaken the very gluten network we worked so carefully to build.

That's why artisan sourdough baking is a balancing act. The goal isn't simply to ferment longer. The goal is to understand exactly how and how long to ferment.

A skilled sourdough baker learns to walk the fine line between maximizing the biological transformations that make bread safer and more nourishing while preserving enough gluten strength to produce a loaf with beautiful structure, oven spring, and texture.

That balance isn't achieved by adding another ingredient. It's achieved by understanding exactly what the microorganisms are doing and knowing when to let them continue and when to stop them.

The same carefully managed fermentation that produces a strong, well-structured loaf also:

• improves digestibility,

• increases the bioavailability of important minerals by reducing phytic acid,

• produces organic acids that naturally help preserve the bread,

• creates hundreds of flavor and aroma compounds that simply cannot be produced by a chemical additive,

• and contributes to a lower glycemic response than quickly fermented breads.

A chemical additive may solve one problem while potentially creating another. Traditional artisan baking solves many at the same time improving dough strength while also making bread safer, more nourishing, and more flavorful.

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This is about much more than one ingredient.

It would be easy to write this as a story about potassium bromate. But I think the real story is about philosophy. For much of modern food production, when a problem appears, the first instinct is often to look for another ingredient to solve it.

• Dough too weak? Add an improver.

• Bread going stale? Add conditioners.

• Shelf life too short? Add preservatives.

• Flavor isn't quite right? Add flavorings.

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At the Modern Stone Age Kitchen, we've chosen a different path.

We don't solve problems by reaching first for another ingredient. We solve them by first asking whether biology, chemistry, physics, time, and skilled craftsmanship can accomplish the same goal naturally.

That's the foundation of everything we do.

• Fermentation instead of additives.

• Time instead of shortcuts.

• Understanding instead of manipulation.

That's why these new laws won't change the way we bake. Our philosophy has always been rooted in a different question.

• Rather than asking, "What can we add?"

• We've always asked, "What can traditional approaches do?"

Our ancestors didn't have potassium bromate. They had observation, patience, and generations of accumulated knowledge. Modern science doesn't replace that wisdom, it helps explain it. Time and again, it confirms what traditional bakers discovered long ago: when we understand and work with nature instead of trying to override it, remarkable things happen.

We think they were onto something.

We've never needed potassium bromate because we've never stopped trusting the oldest ingredient in bread: time.

Dr. Bill shaping sourdough