Flour Bleaching Agents
<p ><b>Flour bleaching agent</b> is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_additive" title="Food additive" >food additive</a> added to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flour" title="Flour" >flour</a> in order to make it appear whiter (freshly milled flour has a yellowish tint) and to oxidize the surfaces of the flour grains and help with developing of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten" title="Gluten" >gluten</a>.</p>
<p>
Usual <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleach" title="Bleach" >bleaching</a> agents are:</p>
<ul >
<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_peroxide" title="Organic peroxide" >Organic peroxides</a>, namely <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzoyl_peroxide" title="Benzoyl peroxide" >benzoyl peroxide</a></li>
<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_peroxide" title="Calcium peroxide" >Calcium peroxide</a></li>
<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_dioxide" title="Nitrogen dioxide" >Nitrogen dioxide</a></li>
<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorine" title="Chlorine" >Chlorine</a></li>
<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorine_dioxide" title="Chlorine dioxide" >Chlorine dioxide</a></li>
<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azodicarbonamide" title="Azodicarbonamide" >Azodicarbonamide</a></li>
<li >Atmospheric <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen" title="Oxygen" >oxygen</a>, used during natural aging of flour</li>
</ul>
<p >Use of chlorine, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromate" title="Bromate" >bromates</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peroxide" title="Peroxide" >peroxides</a> is not allowed in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union" title="European Union" >European Union</a>.
Flours treated with bleaches and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flour_treatment_agent" title="Flour treatment agent" >improving agents</a> generally show higher <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loaf" title="Loaf" >loaf</a> volume and finer grain. However, people with very sensitive <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palate" title="Palate" >palates</a> can detect a slight bitter <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aftertaste" title="Aftertaste" >aftertaste</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flour_bleaching_agent#cite_note-0" >[1]</a></sup>
Chlorinated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cake_flour#Types" title="Cake flour" class="mw-redirect" >cake flour</a> improves the structure forming capacity, allowing the use of dough formulas with lower proportions of flour and higher proportions of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar" title="Sugar" >sugar</a>. In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscuit" title="Biscuit" >biscuit</a> manufacturing, chlorination of flour is used to control the spread – treated flour reduces the spread and provides a tighter surface. The changes of functional properties of the flour <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_(nutrient)" title="Protein (nutrient)" >proteins</a> are likely to be caused by their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxidation" title="Oxidation" class="mw-redirect" >oxidation</a>.
In countries where bleached flour is prohibited, plain flour can be treated in a domestic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven" title="Microwave oven" >microwave oven</a> to produce similar chemical changes to the bleaching process. This improves the final texture of baked goods made to recipes intended for bleached flours.<sup id="cite_ref-kate-flour_1-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flour_bleaching_agent#cite_note-kate-flour-1" >[2]</a></sup>
There is a misconception that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alloxan" title="Alloxan" >alloxan</a>, a destroyer of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_cells" title="Beta cells" class="mw-redirect" >beta cells</a> in the pancreas, is used to bleach flour. Though the process of bleaching flour can produce trace amounts of alloxan, it has never been proved to be a problem or to build up in the body.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flour_bleaching_agent#cite_note-2" >[3]</a></sup></p>
<h2 >[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flour_bleaching_agent&action=edit§ion=1" title="Edit section: See also" >edit</a>]See also</h2>
<ul >
<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorleywood_bread_process" title="Chorleywood bread process" >Chorleywood bread process</a>, another bread making process that increases volume</li>
<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flour_treatment_agents" title="Flour treatment agents" class="mw-redirect" >Flour treatment agents</a></li>
<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_flour" title="Graham flour" >Graham flour</a>, an early unbleached and whole grain flour</li>
<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maida_flour" title="Maida flour" >Maida flour</a>, a commonly bleached flour in India</li>
</ul>
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