Subway Taiwan said yesterday that its sandwich breads do not contain azodicarbonamide, a plastic-based additive that has been found in breads sold by the sandwich chain in North America.
Subway Greater China region spokeswoman Liao Mei-yuan (廖梅媛) said the bread at Subway restaurants in Taiwan is made from frozen dough supplied by New Zealand bakery Yarrows.
Yarrows has issued a statement confirming that it does not use the ingredient in any of its products, and a copy of the statement has been posted on the Facebook page of Subway Taiwan, Liao said.
Azodicarbonamide is a chemical used to make yoga mats, shoe soles and other rubber-like objects to add elasticity. However, it is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as a dough conditioner.
Vani Hari, creator of the US food blog Food Babe, has been promoting a campaign since 2012 to urge Subway to remove the chemical from its breads after discovering that the sandwich maker has been selling bread using the ingredient.
Hari says azodicarbonamide can be found in almost all the breads at Subway restaurants in North America, and that the WHO has linked the chemical to respiratory issues, allergies and asthma.
Subway issued a statement on Wednesday saying that it is in the process of removing azodicarbonamide as part of its improvement efforts and that the complete conversion “will be done soon.”
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