This is unbromated bread flour.

When we saw the word “unbromated” on our bread flour bag,  we decided to check the reason for this effort at labeling.  It turns out that potassium bromate is added to flour in the form of potassium bromate, in order to improve handling properties.   Potassium is a positive, elemental ion that is a sister element of sodium.  This ion is good for us.  Bromate, a negative ion, is made up of four atoms,  three bromine atoms, and one oxygen atom.    Until 40 to 20 years ago compounds containing iodine were added to the dough for the  improved handling purposes.

The problem is, that once the bromate gets into our bodies, the bromine atom displaces the iodine in our metabolic systems, and this reduces our thyroid function, because  our thyroid hormones are inactive when they contain bromine instead of iodine.

We have noticed that some bread flour that we have recently purchased is unbromated.   We had been buying  unbleached white all-purpose flour, but we have switched to unbromated, unbleached bread flour, because that surely is missing the bromine.    Much store bought bread is made with bromated flour.  We are keeping our eye on flour and all baked goods labels, and using unbromated flour to making more of our own bread in a bread machine.

For more information please check these:

• Wikipedia: bromine
• integrativemomdotcom/nutrition/unbromated-flour