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FLOUR BLEACH

Chlorine dioxide

What it is

Gas bleaching that ages and whitens flour in minutes — and a cautionary tale. Its predecessor, "Agene," was used on most white flour until it was pulled.

Why your biology objects

Agene (nitrogen trichloride) reacted with the flour's methionine to form a neurotoxin that gave dogs running fits, and was withdrawn around 1949 once that was understood — a textbook case of an additive ruled safe until it wasn't. Chemical flour bleaching is banned in the EU today.

Would your ancestors eat this?

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