Sulphites In Bread

Marie from Waikanae

In a vain attempt to change the subject (phew!!) I was really enjoying the new Countdown sough-dough rolls last week until I read the label and found they had sulphites added. I read a few more labels from Countdowns bread range and was further dismayed to see its added to most of them. Why? Why is it necessary to add sulphites to bread? Isnt bread allowed to go stale anymore? As a bit of background, sulphites are linked to cancer and a wide body of research supports the fact that we should be trying to eliminate them from our diet. They are strongly linked to bowel cancer, which has a high incidence rate in NZ.

To Countdowns credit, they have produced a very yummy range of sulphite-free bacon, which we can eat without endangering our health. Perhaps they were wondering what to do with all the leftover sulphite and decided to add it to the bread?

When asked what the difference is between real food and fake food,, a nutritionist recently replied " real food rots, fake food doesnt" I would like my bread to be able to rot, or at least go stale. If I dont eat all of it the chooks will love it. Thank goodness for Vogels, Burgen, Freyas Purebread and a host of others who dont use sulphites in their bread. I'm sad that many of the countdown breads I used to enjoy are now blacklisted in our house.