<div>Bread sales have not seen any decline in the city in the wake of the recent report of the Centre for Science and Environment about the cancer-causing property of potassium bromate used in making bread. However, consumers have become inquisitive.<br /><br />At some big bakeries in the city, customers seek to know the contents of bread, but there have been no such inquiries in small bakeries. “I have been eating bread just like Maggie since many years. When the government found fault with Maggie, the samples were tested and withdrawn from market. If there are reports of harmful substances in bread, the government should order a test and stop the manufacturing of the product. Why is the government not doing that” questioned Anand K, a consumer. <br /><br />An employee with Nilgiris, a bakery products unit, said that there had been an increase in the number of queries by the dealers and consumers. “Apart from contacting suppliers and dealers, customers are even calling up manufacturing units seeking details of bread contents. This is despite the fact that the information is already printed on the pack,” the employee said. <br /><br />The Nilgiris manufactures around 25,000 loaves per day which are sold the same day. However, there is no decline in the sales, he added.<br /><br />Vijay Shankar of O G Variar Bakery, West of Chord Road, also said that the sales had not come down in the aftermath of the CSE report. “We have regular customers for bread who buy the product every day. We sell around 1,500 loaves a day. Of late, consumers are inquiring about the contents of bread,” said a staffer at the bakery.<br /><br />Ramanand of Iyengar Bakery, Basaveshwaranagar, said that while a majority of the consumers who inquire for bread purchase the product, he had noticed that some of them return without buying bread. <br /><br />Following the heightened customer curiosity, bread makers have stared to give details of the content of the product on the packet.<br /><br />B S Bhat, president of the Karnataka Wrapped Bread Manufacturers Association and owner of Beekays Bakery, said that there was nothing harmful in bread. <br /><br />He said that All India Bread Manufacturers Association had decided not to use flour mixed with potassium bromate. “This chemical is not used in the manufacture of bread in Karnataka for many years. It has been banned in Germany and other parts of Europe. Absence of potassium bromate could cause minor textural changes in bread which consumers will have to bear with,” he said. <br /><br />He said that around three lakh loaves of bread are sold in the city everyday in organised sector while sales in the unorganised sector account for another one lakh loaves. <br /><br />Dr Priyanka Rahatgi, Chief Clinical Dietician, Apollo Hospitals said that more than potassium bromate, other bleaching agents like chloride and nitrates are more harmful. <br /><br />“They kill the pancreas. A lot of research is on in this sector. They are added to improve the dough quality and enhance the shelf life of bread. Thus it is always advisable to consume home-made bread,” she said.<br /></div>
<div>Bread sales have not seen any decline in the city in the wake of the recent report of the Centre for Science and Environment about the cancer-causing property of potassium bromate used in making bread. However, consumers have become inquisitive.<br /><br />At some big bakeries in the city, customers seek to know the contents of bread, but there have been no such inquiries in small bakeries. “I have been eating bread just like Maggie since many years. When the government found fault with Maggie, the samples were tested and withdrawn from market. If there are reports of harmful substances in bread, the government should order a test and stop the manufacturing of the product. Why is the government not doing that” questioned Anand K, a consumer. <br /><br />An employee with Nilgiris, a bakery products unit, said that there had been an increase in the number of queries by the dealers and consumers. “Apart from contacting suppliers and dealers, customers are even calling up manufacturing units seeking details of bread contents. This is despite the fact that the information is already printed on the pack,” the employee said. <br /><br />The Nilgiris manufactures around 25,000 loaves per day which are sold the same day. However, there is no decline in the sales, he added.<br /><br />Vijay Shankar of O G Variar Bakery, West of Chord Road, also said that the sales had not come down in the aftermath of the CSE report. “We have regular customers for bread who buy the product every day. We sell around 1,500 loaves a day. Of late, consumers are inquiring about the contents of bread,” said a staffer at the bakery.<br /><br />Ramanand of Iyengar Bakery, Basaveshwaranagar, said that while a majority of the consumers who inquire for bread purchase the product, he had noticed that some of them return without buying bread. <br /><br />Following the heightened customer curiosity, bread makers have stared to give details of the content of the product on the packet.<br /><br />B S Bhat, president of the Karnataka Wrapped Bread Manufacturers Association and owner of Beekays Bakery, said that there was nothing harmful in bread. <br /><br />He said that All India Bread Manufacturers Association had decided not to use flour mixed with potassium bromate. “This chemical is not used in the manufacture of bread in Karnataka for many years. It has been banned in Germany and other parts of Europe. Absence of potassium bromate could cause minor textural changes in bread which consumers will have to bear with,” he said. <br /><br />He said that around three lakh loaves of bread are sold in the city everyday in organised sector while sales in the unorganised sector account for another one lakh loaves. <br /><br />Dr Priyanka Rahatgi, Chief Clinical Dietician, Apollo Hospitals said that more than potassium bromate, other bleaching agents like chloride and nitrates are more harmful. <br /><br />“They kill the pancreas. A lot of research is on in this sector. They are added to improve the dough quality and enhance the shelf life of bread. Thus it is always advisable to consume home-made bread,” she said.<br /></div>