New York may ban flour used in thousands of pizzerias and bagel shops

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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 and video were provided by The Associated Press.

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[Scott Wiener of Scott’s Pizza Tours eating pizza at Lo Duca Pizza in Brooklyn]

Scott Wiener (interview): “A flour with potassium bromate is probably in 80 to 90 percent of the slice shops in New York City.”

[Scott Wiener eating pizza]

Scott Wiener (interview): “The potassium bromate ban will be an earth-shaking event for New York pizza, but the result of it is going to be a net positive.”

[Flour in a pan]

Scott Wiener (interview): “The amount of danger that a slice of pizza poses to you is arguable, but it’s an unnecessary element. And now that it’ll be removed, pizza makers will have to step in and make a higher quality product.”

[Pizza getting made at Lo Duca Pizza in Brooklyn]

[Bagels getting made at Utopia Bagels in Long Island City]

Jesse Spellman (interview): “At Utopia Bagels, we’ve had the same recipe for over 40 years. We’re going on our fifth decade coming up in the next couple of years, and we haven’t changed the flour. We haven’t change our purveyor of the flour since day one. And we use all trumps, which is made by General Mills, which is a bromated flour. They do make non-bromated versions, and we’ve been doing some testing with those to kind of achieve the same style product that we offer now, just in case the ban does go through.”

[Bagels getting made at Utopia Bagels in Long Island City]

Jesse Spellman (interview): “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.”

[Bagels cooking]

[People working at Utopia Bagels]

[Price sign at Utopia Bagels]

[Man eating a bagel]

[Exterior of Lo Duca Pizza]

[Picture of the Lo Duca family in the pizzeria]

[Salvatore Lo Duca carrying a bag of non-bromated flour]

Salvatore Lo Duca (interview): “Cost-wise, yes, it is a little more expensive, but the quality is there. So it’s like anything else. You pay a little more for better quality. So if you want to give a better product, you should pay a little more for it.”

[Pizza being made at Lo Duca Pizza]

Salvatore Lo Duca (interview): “If you lose business because of some flour. I really doubt that. I highly doubt it, so that means you didn’t belong on the block already.”

[Pizza being made at Lo Duca Pizza]

This script was provided by The Associated Press.

The related lesson for this video will be published next Tuesday.