India bans use of cancer-causing chemical in bakery products

India's food watchdog has put a blanket ban on the use of a toxic chemical, believed to cause cancer, in bakery products across the country, local media reported.

The decision of the Food Safety Standards Authority of India came in the wake of a study that found traces of potassium bromate in bakery product samples collected in the national capital.

"FSSAI has banned potassium bromate," the food watchdog's chief Pawan Kumar Agarwal was recently quoted by the media as saying.

In fact, potassium bromate is already banned in many countries, but India till now allowed its use in bakeries, despite several concerns.

The study was carried out by a Delhi-based environmental think-tank, the Centre for Science and Environment, and the results were made public in May.

For the study, researchers had collected 38 bread and other baked food samples from retail stores and bakeries in Delhi and tested them. Endit