Grahamstown supermarket Pick n Pay say they're confident of the quality of their products, in response to recent media attention to the so-called yoga-mat chemical, ADA, found in certain bread and flour products.
Grahamstown supermarket Pick n Pay say they're confident of the quality of their products, in response to recent media attention to the so-called yoga-mat chemical, ADA, found in certain bread and flour products.
The chemical enhances flour, whitening it and increasing its elasticity.
"However, it is precisely this elasticity that earned it the name of the 'yoga mat chemical', as it is used to increase the stretchiness of plastic products," wrote public relations professional Pieter Bruwer in a widely circulated media statement this week. "ADA [Azodicarbonamide] is the baking powder of plastic, as it puts the bubbles into the sponge of shoes and sports mats."
In the statement David North, Pick n Pay’s Group Strategy and Corporate Affairs Director, was quoted saying that the company had already removed ADA from the flour pre-mixes used in Pick n Pay bakeries and house brand products.
"We have been able to remove ADA without compromising quality or price, and that is a good outcome for everyone," North was quoted saying. "…With advances in food hygiene, packaging and technology, some additives become unnecessary and can simply be removed from the product.”
Bruwer told Grocott's Mail he was conducting the media campaign on behalf of concerned milling companies in the Eastern Cape.
In a telephone interview on Thursday 29 May he said they didn't want to be identified.
"The small guys are scared of the bigger companies because of the possible backlash," he said. "But they've been losing market share to Sasko over many years because their flour is whiter and spongier. There's a host of milling companies that for many years did not use ADAs because they thought it was unethical. Now they've asked me to try and raise the issue so people become aware."
He said, however, it was a mystery to him how the DA had cottoned on to the ADA issue.
This week, DA leader in the Eastern Cape Athol Trollip said the party would be "taking the issue of Sasko’s alleged use of the potentially harmful “yoga mat” chemical in bread to Parliament.
"Bread is the staple food of thousands of poor people in the province, who are unaware that their daily food contains the chemical Azodicarbonamide (ADA)," the statement, issued on 27 May, read.
Manager of Pick n Pay in Grahamstown Jon Campbell said it was reassuring to be part of a corporate and franchise group that takes health issues so seriously.
"We as a franchisee are proud to be part of this Group, and are confident in the quality of the products on offer to our customers," he told Grocott's Mail in an emailed statement.
Meanwhile, Shoprite Checkers' national communications manager, Sarita van Wyk, denied rumours the company had removed Sasko flour products or bread from their shelves.
"We had reports that this was also mentioned on a radio station yesterday," Van Wyk told Grocott's Mail on Thursday in an emailed response. "Sasko has already confirmed that they removed ADA from their production process. ADA is nevertheless regulated in South Africa and the levels previously present in Sasko breads were within legal parameters."
Spokesperson for Pioneer Foods Lulu Khumalo, replied to Grocott's Mail's question about recalling their products as follows:
"Notwithstanding EU withdrawal of ADA , the ingredient is still allowed by the Codex Alimentarius, the international standard which develops international standards to protect the health of consumers, which is adopted into Health Regulations across the globe, including South Africa. We are therefore not in contravention of the regulations. We will not recall any product on shelf as ADA does not apply to the major products: Cake and self-raising flours," she wrote in an emailed reply.
"As part of a broader bread quality improvement project, Pioneer Foods commenced a process to remove ADA from all our formulations some time ago already. Despite the fact that usage of ADA is still allowed, Pioneer Foods has fast tracked the planned removal with all flour and specifically bread products produced as from 21 May 2014 no longer containing ADA."
Khumalo is Group Executive: Corporate Affairs and Sustainability at Pioneer Foods.
