March 21, 2022 - 10:29am
flour additive?
So my sister-in-law has a hard time digesting flour products. No, it's been established it is not celiac disease or some gluten allergy. It's something else. Bizarrely, she found that when she was in Europe, bread goods there were easily digestable, and she has convinced herself that there is some flour processing additive in the U.S. that makes domestic bread undigestable to her. I've never heard of such a thing. What am I missing?
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She has convinced herself! Well that doesn't mean any additives are to blame. Did she eat regular bread in the US and sourdough in Europe? It could be that while on vacation she happened upon sourdough but bought regular store bread while at home. That and any other long list of reasons could be the answer. Guessing isn't going to help. It might be a matter of trial and error.
I think elimination diets are used to figure out specific items causing a problem.
It's a pretty huge logical leap to go from digestion problems in two different geographic locales (which probably featured different stress levels, food, drink, sleep schedules, food combinations, etc.) to flour additives.
Is it possible that your sister in law has a yeast allergy? Commercial bread in the US is typically made with yeast, even sourdough loaves. European bakers aren't so dependent on yeast.
Is she able to eat pizza? Most pizza crust is made with yeast. If she has no problem with pizza, then it must be the preservatives in commercial flour.
Many commercial flour products do have preservatives to extend shelf life, but not all. You have to check labels.
I think it was a matter of, well, I read this, and heard that. Didn't make a lot of sense to me.
But there is this
https://lifespa.com/can-digest-european-bread-american-vs-european-wheat/
So I can imagine that preservatives could be at issue, but in that case, the simple solution is to stay away from pre-packaged grocery store bread. Not hard to do. I thought she was convinced that it was something to do with the processing of the flour, however.
What your SIL describes sounds very similar to what happened to Vanessa Kimbell of the UK when she went to Europe.
Read about it at Kimbell's web site: https://www.sourdough.co.uk/
or in her book: Sourdough School.
That sounds interesting about Vanessa Kimbell. Can you give a complete link to her story?
I would suggest that your SIL read all the linked articles on this page:
https://www.sourdough.co.uk/category/guts/
and this page:
https://www.sourdough.co.uk/category/sourdough-nutrition-digestibility/
of special interest:
https://www.sourdough.co.uk/why-is-it-that-i-can-digest-sourdough-bread-and-not-commercial-bread/
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As others postulated above, your SIL's bread/wheat issues could still be based on one or more of several factors:
- commercial Yeast vs sourdough.
- the strains/varieties of wheat: highly hybridized modern, versus heirlooms.
- chemicals, fertilizers, and pesticides used.
- soil chemistry/composition where the wheat is grown.
You/she may find more info in the book. In the US, the hardcover edition is about $16 on Amazon, and the Kindle ebook is $7. It often goes on sale for $3.
Well, those are interesting, but I don't think SIL's comment referred to sourdough. Sourdough is getting popular in France, but the average boulangerie doesn't make it. But yes, there are other factors that may pertain. I suspect the most important one is preservatives. In Europe, you don't buy your bread bagged in a grocery store, and it also doesn't last that long.
I believe Kimbell's web site goes into more than sourdough.
And there are more additives in American flour and bread than just the preservatives. There is also a chemical addition to dry yeast in the US.
I think it was either TFL user cfraenkel or clazar123 who is allergic to one of the standard vitamin enrichments, perhaps folate. And can only tolerate un-enriched flour..
I don't think there's any way anyone can guess what the exact issue is based on a verbal self-assessment. It would take experimention, ie, "elimination diet" as mentioned above, eliminating all possibilities, one at a time. And it could be something that a layman might never expect, such as the added folate/folic acid in North American flour.
One of the big lessons that I've learned at TFL is how different flour is around the world. And it's different in ways that I never imagined. These huge differences can be big tripping points for new bakers. It can be frustrating.
Best wishes to your SIL.
That's very reasonable. I guess a valid question is how, in the U.S., one can come up with breads that are chemically equivalent to those in Europe. Can you even buy unenriched flour? I believe that the FDA requirements do not mandate enriched flour, but do regulate how it is enriched. Actually, my understanding is the enrichment basically puts back nutrients that were removed during milling, and really is just for white flour. So one would like to believe that whole wheat flour is free of all those additives.