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After more than a decade of mixing and kneading dough in his family’s Brooklyn pizzeria, Salvatore Lo Duca recently made a distressing discovery: a key component of their thin-crust pies, bromated flour, contained a suspected carcinogen already banned in much of the world.
So, in the back kitchen of Lo Duca Pizzeria, the 39-year-old began tweaking the original recipe handed down by his parents—with unexpected results.
“Cost-wise, yes, it is a little more expensive, but the quality is there. So it’s like anything else. You pay a little bit more for better quality. So if you want to give a better product, you should pay a bit more,” said Lo Duca, who runs the shop with his five brothers.
A looming ban on the additive, potassium bromate, may soon force thousands of pizzerias and bagel shops across New York into a similar transition.
The bill, passed by state lawmakers and awaiting Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signature, has divided dough-makers, triggering fears that even a minor change to long-established baking practices could have dramatic implications for the city’s most iconic foods.
“This is an earth-shaking event for New York pizza,” said Scott Wiener, a pizza historian who leads tours of notable slice shops.
Employees at several stores that use bromated flour declined to comment for this story. But Wiener estimated that around 80 percent of pizza and bagel shops rely on a flour that contains the oxidizing agent, which reduces rest time for dough and helps ensure a stronger, chewier product.
To some, the quintessential qualities of the New York bagel—its height and structure, external crispiness and springy bite—would not be possible, or at least as ubiquitous, without the chemical shortcut.
“It’s a little alarming. In the sense that you might see a little bit of a price increase on your local neighborhood spot. You might pay a little more for your morning breakfast or your afternoon slice of pizza,” lamented Jesse Spellman, the second-generation owner of Utopia Bagels.
This article was provided by The Associated Press.