Potassium Bromate (Bread)

Used in American bread flour to strengthen dough and help it rise higher, potassium bromate has been banned in the EU, UK, Canada, Brazil, China, India, and most of the developed world since the 1990s. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classified it as a "possible human carcinogen" (Group 2B) in 1999. California requires a cancer warning on bromated flour products (Prop 65). Despite this, the FDA hasn't banned it — they issued a voluntary recommendation to stop using it in 1991, but many commercial bakeries still do. Major brands like Pepperidge Farm, King Arthur, and Whole Foods have removed it; others haven't.