Subway to Remove Chemical Found in Yoga Mats from Bread

Subway announced via social networking this week that it will be removing the chemical Azodicarbonamide from the breads they serve to their customers. This follows past days of public outrage after a petition on foodbabe.com exposed the use of the chemical that is commonly found in yoga mats and the soles of some popular sneaker brands.

So what is this chemical doing in our bread in the first place? Azodicarbonamide ( try to say that five times fast) is a bleaching agent that is mixed into flour to improve color and flour strength. It is approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but only in small doses -- 45 part per million.

It also is considered dangerous and outright outlawed in many countries outside the U.S. Most European countries and Australia ban have banned the chemical because it is known to be a "respiratory sensitizer," leading to potentially dangerous allergic and asthmatic reactions.

Interestingly, while the ingredient can be found in eight different types of bread in U.S. Subways, it cannot be found in Subways bread anywhere else on the map, according to the petition.

The petition in question, started by blogger Vani Hari of foodbabe.com, sparked a storm of social media outrage concerning the chemical. Some of the public outrage can still be found in the comments section of the Subway Facebook page.

One commenter even wrote, "No more subway for me until Azodiacarbonamide is removed from the bread like it is in every other country. As an allergy and asthma sufferer, these known irritants in your bread is sickening. Count me out."

Earning a response from Subway's media team. "Thank you for your concern," they wrote. "As a part of our bread improvement efforts, we are already in the process of removing azodicarbonamide. The ingredient is approved by the USDA and FDA, but we understand your concern and appreciate your continued business."

The petition currently has over 66,000 signatures, although it has already achieved its goal when Subway announced earlier this week via social networking that they were beginning to remove Azodicarbonamide baked bread from their stores across the country.