By David Andrews, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, and Elaine Shannon, Editor-in-chief and publisher 
 
 Nearly 500 ways to make a yoga mat sandwich 
 
 If you’ve planked on a yoga mat, slipped on flip-flops, extracted a cell phone from protective padding or lined an attic with foam insulation, chances are you’ve had a brush with an industrial chemical called azodicarbonamide, nicknamed ADA. In the plastics industry, ADA is the “chemical foaming agent” of choice. It is mixed into polymer plastic gel to generate tiny gas bubbles, something like champagne for plastics. The results are materials that are strong, light, spongy and malleable. 
 
 As few Americans realized until Vani Hari, creator of FoodBabe.com, spotlighted it earlier this month, you’ve probably eaten ADA. This industrial plastics chemical shows up in many commercial baked goods as a “dough conditioner” that renders large batches of dough easier to handle and makes the finished products puffier and tough enough to withstand shipping and storage. According to the new EWG Food Database of ingredients in 80,000 foods, now under development, ADA turns up in nearly 500 items and in more than 130 brands of bread, bread stuffing and snacks, including many advertised as “healthy.” 
 
 EWG researchers who are constructing the database found that ADA is listed as an ingredient on the labels of many well-known brands of bread, croutons, pre-made sandwiches and snacks, including Ball Park, Butternut, Country Hearth, Fleischman’s, Food Club, Harvest Pride, Healthy Life, Jimmy Dean, Joseph Campione, Kroger, Little Debbie, Mariano’s, Marie Callendar’s, Martin’s, Mother’s, Pillsbury, Roman Meal, Sara Lee, Schmidt, Shoprite, Safeway, Smucker’s, Sunbeam, Turano, Tyson, Village Hearth and Wonder. 
 
 This synthetic additive has been largely overlooked because it is not known to be toxic to people in the concentration approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration – 45 parts per million. According to the World Health Organization, workers handling large volumes have reported respiratory symptoms and skin sensitization, but ADA has not undergone extensive testing of its potential to harm human health. 
 
 One thing is clear: ADA is not food, as food has been defined for most of human history. It is an industrial chemical added to bread for the convenience of industrial bakers. In centuries past, flour fresh from the mill had to age several months before it could be kneaded into dough and popped into the oven. But in 1956, a New Jersey chemical, pharmaceuticals and engineering firm called Wallace & Tiernan, best known for inventing a mass water chlorination process, discovered that ADA caused flour to “achiev[e] maturing action without long storage.” The result, the firm’s patent application stated, was commercial bread that was “light, soft and suitably moist, yet suitably firm or resilient, and that [had] crusts and internal properties of a pleasing and palatable nature.” The FDA approved ADA as a food additive in 1962. It is not approved for use in either Australia or the European Union. 
 
 In the early 1990s, ADA became the preferred dough conditioner of many American commercial bakers as a result of California’s Proposition 65, which went into effect in 1987. This law required California authorities to list certain chemicals in food as “possibly dangerous to human health.” Potassium bromate, then a common dough conditioner, was found to be carcinogenic in test animals and made the Prop 65 list in 1991. ADA was widely adopted as a safer substitute. 
 
 Over the years, health activists concerned about synthetic chemicals in food have attacked the widespread use of ADA, but it did not attract nationwide headlines until Hari of Food Babe circulated a petition demanding that Subway, among the nation’s biggest fast-food outlets, stop using the chemical in its loaves. Subway responded [http://www.subway.com/subwayroot/about_us/PR_Docs/QualityBread.pdf] that ADA was safe, but even so, it had quietly been seeking a substitute over the past year. The company pointed out that ADA is “found in the breads of most chains such as Starbuck’s, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Arby’s, Burger King, and Dunkin Donuts.” Those other fast food giants joined Subway on the defensive. 
 
 EWG's Food Database, which is now being tested but is still under development, shows that ADA is widespread in supermarket items as well as fast food. The EWG project is being built on data gathered by FoodEssentials, a company that compiles details about the ingredients in foods sold in American supermarkets. To this data, EWG is adding layers drawn from its research on hazard concerns such as pesticide residues, food additives, and contaminants such as mercury. EWG’s Food Database will be the first of its kind – looking deeply at the nutritional value of foods sold in supermarkets as well as their potential health hazards and degree of processing. The interactive project is funded by support from the GRACE Communications Foundation, the Brin Wojcicki Foundation and EWG’s online community and partners. It is scheduled to be made available to the public in the fall. 
 
 The database has two purposes: to empower consumers with the information they need to make healthier shopping choices and to put pressure on food manufacturers to clean up the nation's food supply. It draws on EWG’s expertise and experience gained in developing online databases that have dramatically affected policy debates and consumer awareness on topics including farm subsidies, tap water contaminants, pesticides in produce, hazardous ingredients in personal care products and home cleaners, and the damage done to public land by oil, gas and uranium extraction. 
 
 The information detailed in this report on ADA, gathered from FoodEssentials on Feb. 11, represents a snapshot of food market on that date. EWG recognizes that the marketplace is constantly changing as food processors reformulate, discontinue and introduce products. The list of products in this report represents an extensive look at the ingredients in food recently available in stores, but it may not be comprehensive. Shoppers must read product labels to know for certain whether ADA and other chemical additives are in items they’re contemplating buying. 
 
 The consumers’ search for healthier food may get easier as the “clean label” trend in food manufacturing gains momentum. Last month, the trade journal Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery reported that commercial bakers and snack food manufacturers are seeking new, better ingredients “mostly due to consumer demand for better-for-you products with clean labels and no genetically modified organisms (GM0s).” 
 
 “Clean label,” like “natural,” has no precise legal definition. Food manufacturers often use the term to mean wholesome, without synthetic and unpronounceable ingredients – notably azodicarbonamide. 
 
 EWG recommends that consumers take steps to avoid the industrial additive ADA in their food. It is an unnecessary ingredient, its use has raised concerns about occupational exposure, and questions remain about its potential risk to consumers. 
 
 EWG also calls on all manufacturers to immediately end its use in food. 
 
 Nearly 500 foods containing azodicarbonamide 
 
 Brand Name*† Product Aladdin Bakers Jumbo Bagels Cinnamon Raisin America's Choice Muffin Sandwiches Turkey, Sausage, Egg & Cheese Amigos Tortillas Arnold Bakery Light 100% Whole Wheat Bread 
 
 Sandwich Rolls, Wheat Artichoke Basilles Pizza Co. Margherita Pizza Artisan Fresh Jumbo Wheat Hoagie Aunt Hattie's Onion Buns 
 
 Potato Hamburger Enriched Buns Aunt Millie's Honey & Hamburger Buns 
 
 Whole Grain Bread Bagel-Fuls Bagel Filled With Cream Cheese, Original Baker's Treat Big Texas Cheese Roll Pastries Ball Park Flame Grilled Barbeque Chicken Slider 
 
 Flame Grilled Beef Sliders 
 
 Flame Grilled Cheese Burger Silders 
 
 Hot Dog Buns Bell's Traditional Stuffing Betty Crocker Pasta Caesar Salad 
 
 Suddenly Pasta Salad, Caesar Big Az Cheeseburger Bimbo Bread Crumbs 
 
 Double Fiber Bread 
 
 Large Wheat Bread 
 
 Sabor Chocolate 
 
 Toasted Bread 
 
 Toasted Bread, Original Bon Appetit Apple Danish 
 
 Blueberry Cream Pastry 
 
 Cheese & Berries Danish 
 
 Cheese Croissant 
 
 Super Cinnamon Roll Bridgford Cinnamon Pull-Apart Monkey Bread 
 
 Ready-Dough Frozen White Bread Dough Brownberry Chicago Hot Dog Rolls 
 
 Kaiser Sandwich Buns 
 
 Sandwich Buns, Onion 
 
 Sausage Rolls, Original Bunny Hot Dog Buns Butternut 1/2 Loaf White Enriced Bread 
 
 All Whole Grain 100% Whole Wheat Bread 
 
 Brown' N Serve Enriched Rolls 
 
 Deluxe Buns 
 
 Enriched Burger Buns, Sliced 
 
 Enriched Hot Dog Buns, Sliced 
 
 Hearty Rye Bread 
 
 Honey Wheat Bread 
 
 Italian Bread 
 
 Large Enriched Bread 
 
 Sliced Buns, Seeded 
 
 Whole Grain White Bread 
 
 Whole Wheat Bread Castillo Castillo Croissants Centrella Hot Dog Buns, Enriched 
 
 Restaurant Style Caesar Crotons Chef M.J. Brando Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Cheddar 
 
 Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Swiss Clear Value White Bread Cloverhill Apple Danish Cole's Cheesesticks 
 
 Garlic Mini Loaf Connella Bread Crumbs Corfu Foods Inc. Hand Made Pita Country Hearth Dakota Style 12 Grain Bread 
 
 Hearty Homestyle 100% Whole Wheat Bread 
 
 Hearty Homestyle Honey Grain 'n Oat Bread 
 
 Split Top Wheat Bread 
 
 Split Top White Bread D'italiano Italian Bread Day'n Night Bites Country Sausge Muffin With Egg'n Cheese Drake's Danish Pastries Cheese Earthgrains Honey Wheat Berry Bread 
 
 Sliced French Premium Bread 
 
 Wheat Rolls Entenmann's Raspberry Danish Essential Everyday 5 Cheese Texas Toast 
 
 Garlic Bread 
 
 Garlic Bread Sticks 
 
 Garlic Texas Toast European Bakers Onion Rolls 
 
 White Sub Rolls Farm Rich French Toast Sticks, Cinnamon Sprinkle 
 
 French Toast Sticks, Original Fiber One Hamburger Buns 
 
 Hot Dog Buns Fleischmann's Simply Homemade Baking Mix, Pretzel Creations 
 
 Simply Homemade No Knead Bread Mix, Country White 
 
 Simply Homemade No Knead Bread Mix, Italian Herb 
 
 Simply Homemade No Knead Bread Mix, Multi-Grain Food Club Caesar Restaurant Style Croutons 
 
 Garlic Cheesesticks 
 
 Garlic Dinner Rolls 
 
 Seasoned Restaurant Style Croutons 
 
 Strawberry Strudel 
 
 Stuffing Classics Cornbread Stuffing Mix 
 
 Texas Toast, 3 Cheese 
 
 Texas Toast, Garlic 
 
 French Toast Sticks 
 
 Garlic Bread Sticks 
 
 Texas Toast, 3 Cheese Freihofer's White Bread Fresh Gourmet Premium Croutons, Butter & Garlic 
 
 Premium Croutons, Cheese & Garlic 
 
 Premium Croutons, Classic Caesar 
 
 Premium Croutons, Garden Herb 
 
 Premium Croutons, Italian Seasoned 
 
 Premium Croutons, Parmesan Ranch Furlani Garlic Bread 
 
 Multi Grain Garlic Toast 
 
 Parmesan Garlic Toast 
 
 Texas Toast, Garlic 
 
 Texas Toast, Pizza 
 
 Texas Toast, Three Cheese Gateway Soft Rye Bread Gimbo Conchas Fine Pastry Gollo Galletas De Huevo (Eggs Crackers) Gonnella Sandwich Rolls Great Value Honey Buns 
 
 Hot Dog Buns 
 
 Wheat Sandwhich Bread Grissom's Hot Dog Sliced Enriched Buns Harvest Pride Awesome Rolls 
 
 Seeded Italian Bread 
 
 Texas Toast Bread 
 
 Wheat Bread 
 
 White Enriched Bread Hauswald's Enriched Bread 
 
 Split Top Wheat Bread Healthy Life 100% Whole Grain Wheat Bread, Flaxseed 
 
 100% Whole Grain Wheat Bread, Sugar Free 
 
 100% Whole Wheat English Muffins 
 
 100% Whole Wheat Whole Grain Bread 
 
 High Fiber White Bread 
 
 Hot Dog Buns, Whole Grain 
 
 Italian Bread 
 
 Light English Muffins 
 
 Light Multigrain English Muffins 
 
 Soft Style 100% Whole Grain Bread Hearth Of Texas Bread Company 100% Whole Wheat Bread 
 
 Enriched Large White Bread 
 
 Extra Thin White Bread 
 
 Split Top Wheat Bread 
 
 Whole Grain White Bread Honey Hot Dog Buns Hormel Country Crock Homestyle Stuffing Hungry-Man Roasted Carved White Meat Turkey Ihop French Toast Breakfast Sandwich, Egg, Canadian Bacon & Cheese 
 
 French Toast Breakfast Sandwich, Maple Sausage, Egg & Cheese J. Skinner Cinnamon Craver's Roll J.C. Potter Sausage On A Bun J.J. Cassone 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Rolls 
 
 Enriched Vienna Rolls 
 
 Italian Bread 
 
 Sliced Hero Rolls 
 
 Sliced Sandwich Rolls 
 
 Wheat Bran Sandwich Rolls Jimmy Dean Delights Honey Wheat Flatbread, Bacon, Egg & Cheese 
 
 Delights Honey Wheat Flatbread, Turkey Sausage, Egg & Cheese 
 
 French Toast Griddlers 
 
 Muffin, Sausage, Egg & Cheese 
 
 Sausage, Egg & Cheese On A Muffin 
 
 Turkey Sausages Egg White & Cheese Whole Grain Bagel Joseph Campione Authentic Hearth Baked Garlic Bread 
 
 Bread Sticks, Garlic 
 
 Cheese Stuffed Bread Sticks 
 
 Dinner Rolls, Parmesan Garlic 
 
 Garlic Bread, Authentic Hearth Baked 
 
 Garlic Mini Loaf 
 
 Texas Toast, 5 Cheese 
 
 Texas Toast, Garlic 
 
 Texas Toast, Parmesan Key Food Seeded Rye European Hearth Bread, Deli Style 
 
 Seedless Rye European Hearth Bread, Deli Style Kid Cuisine Kc's Campfire Hot Dog Kroger White Enriched Bread 
 
 White Hamburger Enriched Buns L'oven Fresh Split Top Wheat Bread Lakeland Hot Dog Buns Enriched 
 
 White Enriched Sandwich Bread Lewis Healthy Life Wheat Hot Dog Buns 
 
 Whole Wheat Sandwich Buns Liberty Hearth New York Deli Kaiser Rolls, Poppy Little Debbie Cheese Danish Classic Pastry 
 
 Cinnamon Rolls With Icing 
 
 Cream Cheese Danish Pastry 
 
 Danish Pastry, Cherry Cheese 
 
 Honey Buns Maglio Stromboli, Philly Style Steak & Cheese Manischewitz Pumpernickel Bread Mariano's 100% Whole Wheat Bread 
 
 Asiago Cheese Focaccia 
 
 Bell Pepper Focaccia Muffins 
 
 Breadstics 
 
 Butterflake Rolls 
 
 Cheese Pizza Bread 
 
 Chefs Collection Italian Focaccia Half 
 
 Cinnamon Raisin Bread 
 
 Club Rolls 
 
 Egg And Onion Brat Bun 
 
 Egg Dinner Rolls 
 
 English Muffin Bread 
 
 Fresh Tomato Focaccia 
 
 Garlic Bread 
 
 Ham Swiss Sub 
 
 Hamburger Buns 
 
 Hard Rolls 
 
 Hot Dog Buns 
 
 Italian Bread 
 
 Italian Specialty Bread By The Pound 
 
 Jalapeno Cheddar Focaccia 
 
 Jalapeno Cheddar Focaccia Muffins 
 
 Kaiser Rolls 
 
 Large Kaiser Rolls 
 
 Marble Rye Bread 
 
 Olive And Parmesan Chop Block Bread 
 
 Onion Rye Specialty Bread 
 
 Paisano Italiano Sandwich 
 
 Parisian Chocolate Croissant 
 
 Roast Beef & Cheddar Croissant 
 
 Rotisserie Chicken Salad Croissant 
 
 Rye Specialty Bread By The Pound 
 
 Salami And Provolone Chop Block Bread 
 
 Tomato Basil Chop Block Bread 
 
 Walnut Raisin Specialty Bread 
 
 Wheat Bread 
 
 Wheat Club Rolls 
 
 Wheat Dinner Rolls 
 
 Wheat Hamburger Buns 
 
 Wheat Hot Dog Buns 
 
 White Bread 
 
 Whole Wheat Specialty Bread Marie Callender's Flaky Croissant With Ham & Swiss 
 
 Flaky Croissant With Sausage, Egg & Monterey Jack 
 
 Spaghetti With Meat Sauce Market Street Butterflake Rolls Martin's Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Potato Bread 
 
 Hoagie Rolls, Unseeded 
 
 Long Roll, Potato Rolls 
 
 Potato Bread, 100% Whole Wheat 
 
 Potato Bread, Sandwich 
 
 Potato Rolls 
 
 Potatobred Soft Cubed Stuffing Marty's Large Rolls Master Hamburger Enriched Buns 
 
 Hot Dog Enriched Buns Mckee Cheese Danish With Icing 
 
 Cinnamon Rolls Mediterranean Pita Bread Met Foodmarkets Giant White Enriched Bread 
 
 Hamburgers Enriched Buns 
 
 Hot Dogs Enriched Buns Mother's Giant Enriched White Bread 
 
 Split Top Wheat Bread Mrs. Baird's Pastry Kitchen Cinnamon Rolls 
 
 Cinnamon Rolls, Cherry 
 
 Cinnamon Rolls, Original Mrs. Cubbison's Butter & Garlic Croutons 
 
 Corn Bread Stuffing, Seasoned 
 
 Seasoned Croutons Mrs. Freshley's Honey Buns Murry's French Toast Bites, Cinnamon Blase New York Bread Sticks With Real Garlic 
 
 Hand-Tied Garlic Knots With Real Garlic 
 
 Texas Toast, 5 Cheese 
 
 Texas Toast, Garlic New York Deli Kaiser Rolls, Plain 
 
 Kaiser Rolls, Sesame Old Style Cottage Potato Bread One Republic Skinny Buns Oroweat Raisin Cinnamon Bread Palagonia 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Rolls 
 
 French Bread 
 
 Italian Bread 
 
 Mini Heros 
 
 Panino Italiano 
 
 Rolls 
 
 Sliced Italina Bread Patriotic Honey Buns Pelmen Blueberry Perogies Peroguis Aux Bleuets 
 
 Mushrooms Champigons 
 
 Perogies, Cherry 
 
 Perogies, Potato With Cheddar Cheese 
 
 Perogies, Potato With Cottage Cheese 
 
 Perogies, Potato With Spinach & Feta 
 
 Perogies, Sauerkraut 
 
 Perogies, Sauerkraut Mushrooms 
 
 Perogies, Sweet Cottage Cheese Pillsbury Artisan Dinner Rolls 
 
 Artisan Pizza Crust With Whole Grain 
 
 Breadsticks, Original 
 
 Crusty French Loaf 
 
 Italian Bread 
 
 Pizza Crust, Thin Crust 
 
 Toaster Scrambles, Cheese Sauce, Egg & Bacon 
 
 Toaster Scrambles, Cheese Sauce, Egg & Sausage 
 
 Toaster Strudel Pastries, Apple 
 
 Toaster Strudel Pastries, Apple Cream Danish 
 
 Toaster Strudel Pastries, Blueberry 
 
 Toaster Strudel Pastries, Boston Cream Pie 
 
 Toaster Strudel Pastries, Cinnamon With Brown Sugar 
 
 Toaster Strudel Pastries, Cream Cheese & Strawberry 
 
 Toaster Strudel Pastries, Danish Style Cream Cheese 
 
 Toaster Strudel Pastries, Strawberry Potmann's Select Seasoned Croutons Rainbo Thin Sliced White Bread Raybern's New York Deli Style Raybern's New York Deli Style Philly Cheesesteak 
 
 Roast Beef Cheddar Melt Rhodes Cinnamon Rolls, Cream Cheese Frosting Roman Meal 100% Whole Wheat Bread Rosa Bianca Garlic Bread Rosen's Sweet Hawaiian Rolls Roundy's 100% Whole Wheat Bread 
 
 Blueberry Bagels 
 
 Bratwurst Enriched Buns, Sliced 
 
 Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bagel 
 
 Croissant Sandwiches 
 
 Croutons, Cheese & Garlic 
 
 Croutons, Seasoned 
 
 Deli Rye Bread, Seedless 
 
 Enriched Hot Dog Buns 
 
 Everything Bagels 
 
 French Bread 
 
 Garlic Bread, Original 
 
 Garlic Bread, Parmesan 
 
 Hamburger Enriched Buns 
 
 Italian Sausage Tortelloni 
 
 Meat & Fine Herbs Ravioli 
 
 Muffin Sandwiches, Ham Egg And Cheese 
 
 Muffin Sandwiches, Sausage, Egg & Cheese 
 
 Plain Bagels 
 
 Presliced Everything Bagels 
 
 Quarter Pound Chicken Sandwich 
 
 Select 9 Grain Bread 
 
 Texas Toast, Garlic 
 
 Texas Toast, Three Cheese 
 
 Wheat Bread, Split Top 
 
 Wheat Muffin Sandwiches, Turkey Sausage, Egg White & Cheese 
 
 White Enriched Bread 
 
 White Enriched Sandwich Bread S.Rosen's Black Bavarian Rye Bread 
 
 Bohemian Style Rye Bread 
 
 Brat & Sausage Rolls 
 
 Enriched Hot Dog Buns 
 
 French Rolls, Italian Beef Rolls 
 
 Hawaiian Bread, Pineapple 
 
 Kaiser Buns 
 
 Marble Rye Swirled 
 
 Multi Grain Bread 
 
 Rye Bread 
 
 Rye Bread, Caraway Seeds 
 
 Rye Bread, Unseeded 
 
 Wheat With Oat Bran Buns Safeway Cornbread Stuffing Mix 
 
 Five Cheese Garlic Toast Sara Lee Blueberry Crumble Breakfast Bread 
 
 Brown Sugar Cinnamon Breakfast Bread 
 
 Center Split Deli Rolls, White 
 
 Cinnamon Breakfast Bread With Raisins 
 
 Cinnamon Raisin Bagels 
 
 Cinnamon Rolls 
 
 Classic Dinner Rolls 
 
 Deluxe Bagels, Blueberry 
 
 Deluxe Bagels, Cinnamon Raisin 
 
 Deluxe Bagels, Plain 
 
 Hearty & Delicious 100% Whole Wheat Deli Rolls 
 
 Hearty & Delicious Center Split Deli Rolls, White 
 
 Honey Wheat Bread 
 
 Soft & Smooth 100% Whole Wheat Bread 
 
 Soft & Smooth 100% Whole Wheat Hot Dog Buns 
 
 Soft & Smooth Hamburger Buns, White 
 
 Soft & Smooth Hot Dog Buns, White 
 
 Soft & Smooth Wheat Hamburger Buns 
 
 White Bread Schmidt Enriched Bread 
 
 Enriched Hamburger Rolls, Sliced 
 
 Rye Bread 
 
 Wheat Rolls 
 
 Whole Grain White Bread Select Signatures Spicy Chicken Sliders Shoprite Bangles Whole Wheat 
 
 Cinnamon Bread 
 
 Country White Bread 
 
 Enriched Cinnamon Swirl Bread 
 
 Enriched Honey Wheat Bread 
 
 Enriched Light Hot Dog Rolls 
 
 Enriched Light Wheat Bread 
 
 Enriched Round Top White Bread 
 
 Garlic Bread Sticks 
 
 Garlic Dinner Rolls 
 
 Hot Dog Rolls 
 
 Italian Bread 
 
 Onion Bagels 
 
 Poppy Bagels 
 
 Potato Hamburger Rolls 
 
 Premium Bread 
 
 Premium Bread With 100% Stone Ground Wheat 
 
 Sandwich White Bread 
 
 Sesame Bagels 
 
 Sliced Hearth Baked Plain Bagels 
 
 Split Top White Bread 
 
 Swirl Rye Bread 
 
 Texas Toast Garlic 
 
 Wheat Bread Simplyaddwater Premium Challah Bread Mix Smucker's Uncrustables Peanut Butter & Grape Jelly Sandwich 
 
 Uncrustables Peanut Butter & Grape Spread Sandwich, Reduced Sugar 
 
 Uncrustables Peanut Butter & Rasperry Spread Sandwich 
 
 Uncrustables Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jam Sandwich 
 
 Uncrustables Peanut Butter & Strawberry Spread Sandwich, Reduced Sugar Snacks Iced Honey Buns Storehmann Split Top Wheat Bread 
 
 White Bread Sun-Maid Raisin Bread, Cinnamon Swirl Sunbeam Enriched Buns 
 
 Grill'n Griddle Bread 
 
 Hot Dog Buns 
 
 Large, Enriched Bread 
 
 Texas Toast Enriched Bread, Thick Sliced Super Bread Giant White Enriched Bread 
 
 Hamburger Enriched Buns 
 
 Honey Wheat Bread 
 
 Hot Dog Enriched Buns 
 
 Raisin Bread Tastykake Glazed Honey Buns 
 
 Honey Bun 
 
 Iced Honey Buns The Bakery At Walmart Glazed Yeast Donuts 
 
 Jumbo Croissant Toufayan Bakeries Bagels Blueberry 
 
 Cinnamon Raisin 
 
 Everything Bagels 
 
 Mini Bagels, Cinnamon Raisin 
 
 Mini Bagels, Plain 
 
 Pre-Sliced Bagels, Whole Wheat 
 
 Pre-Sliced Mini Bagels, Whole Wheat Turano Brat & Sausage Rolls 
 
 Extra Long French Bread 
 
 French Rolls 
 
 Gourmet Sandwich Rolls 
 
 Italian Bread 
 
 Kaiser Rolls 
 
 Old Fashioned Italian Bread 
 
 Soft Sub Rolls 
 
 Wheat French Rolls 
 
 Wheat Rolls Tuscan Garden Caesar Gourmet Restaurant Style Croutons Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches 
 
 Mini Chicken Sandwiches With Cheddar Cheese 
 
 Mini Grilled Chicken Sandwiches Unger's Puff Pastry Shells Vachon Carrot Cakes Valu Time Wheat Bread White Enriched Bread Van De Kamp's Enriched Hot Dog Buns Sliced Village Hearth 100% Whole Wheat Bread 
 
 Cottage Bread, Wheat 
 
 Honey Wheat Bread 
 
 Light 12 Grain Bread 
 
 Light Italian Bread 
 
 Light Wheat Bread 
 
 White Brat Buns Weight Watchers Smart Ones English Muffin Sandwich, Canadian Style Bacon 
 
 English Muffin Sandwich, Egg Whites & Cheese 
 
 Homestyle Turkey Breast With Stuffing White Castle Cheeseburgers 
 
 Microwavable Hamburgers White Rose Stuffing Mix Wonder Light Wheat Bread 
 
 Potato Hot Dog Buns 
 
 Texas Toast Bread 
 
 Source: Data provided by FoodEssentials as of 2/27/2014. 
 
 * The original version of this report included Nature's Own because its bakery products used to contain ADA. On Feb. 28, 2014, Nature’s Own informed EWG that it had removed ADA from its products in the fall of 2013 and has begun updating its packaging to reflect that change. 
 
 
 
 A company spokesperson said, "in a few limited markets, some varieties may still have the outdated packaging with ADA listed in the 'one or more of the following' list. However, the products do not contain ADA." 
 
 † The original version of this report included Target-branded Archer Farms Simply Balanced 100% Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns. On March 7, 2014, Target informed EWG that this product was discontinued in December 2012. The report has been updated to reflect this information. 
 
 ** Disclaimer. The conclusions and findings that appear on this page reflect EWG's research at the time of publication stated above. In light of evolving market conditions, subsequent product reformulations, and other factors, they may no longer be current. EWG makes no representations or warranties about any of the products that may appear on this page. EWG hereby disclaims all warranties with regard to any of the products that may appear on this page, including express, statutory, implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular use. ||||| Food Science 
 
 (Corrects first paragraph to remove mention of Nature's Own, which no longer uses azodicarbonamide in its products.) 
 
 A chemical commonly found in rubber will soon be removed from Subway’s sandwich bread and baked goods sold at Publix supermarkets. But a report released today identifies almost 500 other foods—from bagels and breads to pizza crusts and danishes—sold under 130 brand names that still contain the food additive azodicarbonamide, including Pillsbury and Sara Lee. 
 
 Environmental Working Group, the nonprofit that released the report, is trying to persuade food manufacturers to stop using azodicarbonamide, or ADA, which acts as a kind of baking powder in the making of rubber, plastics, and ceramics, making them lighter and more elastic. Food producers took to using the same chemical to soften the texture of baked goods. 
 
 Grupo Bimbo (GRBMF), which owns Sara Lee’s bakery business, said in a statement that it had been working “aggressively for some time” to remove ADA from everything it makes. “The majority of our products are already ADA-free,” the company said, “as we have made considerable progress to date eliminating this ingredient.” Pillsbury declined to comment. 
 
 ADA was probably unknown to consumers until earlier this month, when the website Foodbabe.com launched a petition demanding that Subway stop using it. Underlying the concerns are two chemicals released when bread is baked with ADA: urethane, a recognized carcinogen, and semicarbazide, which causes cancers of the lung and blood vessels in mice but poses a negligible risk to humans, according to nonprofit advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest. 
 
 The Food and Drug Administration approved ADA as a food additive in 1962, according to research by the Environmental Working Group. The additive gained popularity as a substitute for another common dough conditioner, potassium bromate, that was banned by California authorities in 1987 after it was found to cause cancer in test animals. 
 
 Here’s a history of ADA from the nonprofit group’s report: 
 
 In centuries past, flour fresh from the mill had to age several months before it could be kneaded into dough and popped into the oven. But in 1956 a New Jersey chemical, pharmaceuticals, and engineering firm called Wallace & Tiernan, best-known for inventing a mass water chlorination process, discovered that ADA caused flour to “achiev[e] maturing action without long storage.” The result, the firm’s patent application stated, was commercial bread that was “light, soft, and suitably moist, yet suitably firm or resilient, and that [had] crusts and internal properties of a pleasing and palatable nature.” The FDA approved ADA as a food additive in 1962. It is not approved for use in either Australia or the European Union. 
 
 ADA is currently considered safe by the FDA in quantities as large as a half-ounce for every 100 pounds of flour. David Acheson, former associate commissioner for food at the FDA and now chief executive officer of the Acheson Group, says some food standards are old and should be revisited. “It’s good that we ask questions. The science of 50 years ago is not current today.” 
 
 The FDA has changed its mind about other additives in the past: For instance, it recently issued a preliminary determination that partially hydrogenated oils are no longer “generally recognized as safe.” 
 
 Yet some food researchers argue the recent campaigns against ADA lack scientific grounds. Kantha Shelke, principal of research firm Corvus Blue and spokeswoman for the food science organization Institute of Food Technologists, says an additive is not necessarily harmful just because it’s also used in industrial materials. “The scientific literature points to azodicarbonamide as being safe for human consumption as an additive in bread and baked goods,” she says. ADA is not listed as a carcinogen on California Proposition 65, Shelke notes, “and that is the longest list of carcinogens in the world.” Nor is it listed as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. 
 
 Chemicals additives are hard to avoid entirely. As John Coupland, a professor of food science at Penn State, noted on Popsci.com: 
 
 “Urethane is found in bread made without azodicarbonamide, but no one is arguing we ban bread for that reason. Toasting bread doubles or triples the urethane content, a much greater increase than adding azodicarbonamide, but no one is arguing we should ban toasters because of that.” 
 
 The rule of thumb that the fewer ingredients a product has, the better it is for us is “not a bad approach” for consumers, Shelke says. And simplicity is increasingly sought by consumers when shopping for food, a trend not lost on marketers. ||||| Nearly 500 foods found on grocery store shelves in the United States, including many foods labeled as "healthy," contain a potentially hazardous industrial plastics chemical, according to a report issued Thursday by a health research and advocacy group. 
 
 Azodicarbonamide, also known as ADA, was found as an ingredient in breads, bagels, tortillas, hamburger and hot dog buns, pizza, pastries, and other food products, according to a report by the Environmental Working Group, based in Washington. 
 
 Some consumer groups have called for the removal of azodicarbonamide from use in foods. Fast food chain Subway said earlier this month that it was removing the chemical from its products, but stated that ADA is a safe and widely used ingredient for many foods. 
 
 Azodicarbonamide is fully approved for use in food by the United States Food and Drug Administration and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. But ADA is banned as an additive in Australia and some European countries. 
 
 As a food additive, azodicarbonamide is used as a flour bleaching agent and as an oxidizing agent in dough to improve its performance for bakers. It is also used in plastics to improve elasticity and can be found in yoga mats and shoes. 
 
 The World Health Organization states that epidemiological studies in humans and other reports have produced "abundant evidence that azodicarbonamide can induce asthma, other respiratory symptoms, and skin sensitization" to people working with the chemical. 
 
 The Environmental Working Group said manufacturers should immediately end the use of ADA in food. U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, this month called on the FDA to ban ADA from foods. 
 
 The FDA states that azodicarbonamide can be used safely if the amount in flour does not exceed 2.05 grams per 100 pounds of flour or 45 parts per million. 
 
 (Reporting by Carey Gillam in Kansas City; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
– Azodicarbonamide is a chemical used to make shoes, yoga mats, a variety of plastic products, and … bread? American supermarkets are crawling with the chemical, also known as ADA, according to the Environmental Working Group, which today released a report identifying almost 500 food products that use it. Most of the foods were bread-like—things like hot dog buns, bagels, pizza, tortillas—and they came from brands ranging from Wonder Bread to those marketed as healthy, like Village Health. The World Health Organization says there's "abundant evidence" that ADA can cause asthma and skin sensitization, according to Reuters. It also releases the carcinogen urethane when baked. In plastics, it's used to make materials more flexible. For bakers, it bleaches flour, making dough easier to work, and bread fluffier. ADA was thrust into the public eye earlier this month when FoodBabe.com launched a petition demanding that Subway stop using it. The chain acquiesced, but said it believed the chemical was safe—and some scientific experts do agree; one tells Bloomberg that toasting bread creates far more urethane than ADA.