Flour

[LaBanditaRoja]

Is bleached All-Pupose Flour not vegan because of the bleaching process? I tried looking this up but couldn't find it. Anyone have a link?

[tricia]

http://www.vegsource.com/jo/qa/qaflour.htm

Quote

"Bleached white flours not only have had the bran and germ removed, taking with it essential vitamins and nutrients, they have been "whitened." White flour can be bleached naturally, as it ages, or it can be bleached chemically. Potassium bromate, a chemical used as an oxidizing agent and also used to enhance baking characteristics, has been added regularly to some white flours for a long time. Potassium bromate has been banned in Europe, Japan, and Canada. In California, flours containing this chemical must carry a label warning of its potential as a carcinogen. Unbleached white flours also have had their natural bran and germ removed but they have not undergone a bleaching process. These flours retain more of the natural warm, golden color of wheat than snowy-white bleached flours."


"Although some flours are more nutritious than others, all flours are considered vegan. "

Hope that site helps... it has alot of info on there...

[LaBanditaRoja]

Thanks a lot. That's very good to know since I just went and bought a new bag of all-purpose flour and read that it was bleached. Next time I'll probably get whole wheat flour...

I'll keep that site handy too.

[Imapeach]

Somebody forwarded this to me in an email. Can anyone verify the validity of this, please?


"Some commercial flours are treated with treatment agent 920 (L-Cysteine)which can be extracted from duck and chicken feathers. It is used as a 'dough improver' or 'bread improver'. The L-Cysteine is added to the ingredients during the mixing process prior to baking. During mixing, it
reacts with a protein in wheat. As the original L-Cysteine amino acid is not present in the final product, by law there is no requirement to list it as an ingredient".


I know about 920, but never heard of it being a common practice for flours and therefore breads, etc...

[Tigerlily]

I never heard about that. Sorry.

[John]

Thanks for the information. I just did a quick search and yes, they do use
L-Cysteine in dough for products like Blimpies and Domino's pizza, for example. And yes, it does come from feathers and human hair. Also, it can be synthetic--whatever that means. I spent about 30 seconds looking it up so if anyone else has some info, please post it.

[spo]

Oh my gosh! another nasty vegan surprise for us to deal with! I'll check, too for the commercial uses that we might be exposed to-- like the Blimpees and pizza dough. I use only the Organic Flour which states no additives or conditioners present. However, are we going to have to start cooking more and more stuff? Trader Joes is reliable for Vegan Bread and Pizza crust!
spo

[pixeequeen]

Oh no flour! blimey can nothing simple be kept simple?

[Imapeach]

Sorry, guys. Didn't mean to cause a panic

And what, pray tell, is a Blimpies?


This just reminded me of another story. I had the option of having Dominoes the other night, but when I asked the order girl if she could tell me what was in the pizza sauce, she said no and asked the manager if he knew. He quite clearly said "I have no idea" and shook his head. Then looked at me and asked what I was concerned about. When i said "any animal products", he said there were none in there. But didn't he just say he had no idea? And yet he knows there's no animal products? Well, I didn't take the chance needlesstosay and we made our own pizza that night! I'm quite relieved that we did now....

[spo]

And what, pray tell, is a Blimpies?

Hi Aussie Peach:
A Blimpie is a Sub-sandwhich chain here in the states. For us, Vegans, there doesn't seem to be any real choices of toppings, other than the Lettuce/tomato/onion and peppers. I haven't tried them in ages; and now since the bread, which was always fresh baked is NOT vegan, I never will!

spo

[Evilfluffbunny]

There's apparently some enzyme from the pancreas of pigs which often goes into the bread-making process too. It gets destroyed in heat though so also doesn't have to be mentioned in the ingredients list. I'd like to think that none of these final products would have the 'suitable for vegetarians' symbol on them though.

[Gorilla]

L-Cysteine in dough for products like Blimpies and Domino's pizza, for example. And yes, it does come from feathers and human hair.

woah!! maybe that's why (as mentioned in another thread) Domino's dough is rumoured to be unsuitable for vegans.....i emailed them and they said their dough was ok, but sometimes even the companies that make these products don't know everything that goes in them i'm staying away from wheat at the moment anyway, as i think i may be sensitive to it - this seems like another good reason!!

[gertvegan]

All of Doves Farm flours are vegan.

[FR]

*wonders if Rudi's bakery products are okay*

[bulletproof]

*turns a blind eye to prevent herself from having a nervous breakdown and thus being in no fit state to 'help the animals'*

[John]

*wonders if Rudi's bakery products are okay*

Their website says that none of their breads have any animal products except for honey in one type, I think. Rudi's bread is so good. Unfortunately, my local supermarket only had it for about two weeks and now I can't find it. Oh, well.

[bulletproof]

bread and crisps are what i eat at vegan-unfriendly houses in order to survive

[kokopelli]

Even some of the flour you can buy for home baking says 'contains flour improver', but usually this seems to be ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

I've got the feeling some Tesco bread says it has flour improvers too. Oh dear. I don't really like their bread, I usually make my own, but now maybe I'll have to give theirs up altogether.

Evilfluffbunny, I wonder if you're right, that they wouldn't be able to say bread was 'suitable for vegetarians' if it had been exposed to this stuff.

For years, I didn't realise the thing about some white sugar being strained through animal bone charcoal. They never write that on the bags.

I feel rather sick now

[antman]

Seems I'm still asking quite a few questions.

So, is flour vegan? Specifically Hovis flour.

Thanks for any replies.

[adam antichrist]

Some flour features a treatment agent called L-cysteine which is from chicken feathers or animal hair. These are referred to in Europe as E920 and E921. I doubt you will find such additives in packets of flour, but certainly do in breads. I can't think why any flour which is just crushed grain should be not vegan, unless undergoing some kind of treatment or processing procedure.

If anybody finds out something else, please update this info! Much appreciated!

[DianeVegan]

Any organic, whole-grain flour should be unadulterated. There should be nothing on the ingredients list except the name of the grain. Once you start refining and "enriching" flour I think any type of animal ingredient could slip in. I would just do an internet search on any questionable ingredients.

[sandiveggi]

is L-cysteine listed in the ingredients?