[News] Over 500 Items Now Contain ADA, The Chemical Additive Used to Make Yoga Mats

They say don’t eat things you can’t pronounce, right? Try this one: azodicarbonamide. Also known as ADA, this tongue-twister of a chemical is found in over 500 food items and over 130 brands, according to a recent report by the Environmental Working Group.

Major food companies including Subway, Tyson, Pillsbury, Sara Lee and Smucker’s use ADA — a chemical foaming agent and dough conditioner — to make food (typically bread) light and spongy, just like a pair of your favorite flip flops. And it’s not just yoga mats and flip flops; ADA is also used to make foam insulation found in attics.

“[ADA] is mixed into polymer plastic gel to generate tiny gas bubbles, something like champagne for plastics.” — EWG¹ 

Companies even label some of these food products as “healthy” to target a specific market. Brands like Weight Watchers, Healthy Life, and Fiber One are cranking out ADA-containing products daily. The EWG has compiled a database of all ADA-containing food items and is aiming to create policy change and eventually end use of the chemical additive.

Bottom Line

You deserve to know what’s going in your body. And the last time I checked, azodicarbonamide wasn’t on any list of doctor’s daily recommendations.

The EWG recommends that consumers take steps to avoid ADA and is pushing manufacturers to immediately discontinue its use. It was even banned in food throughout Europe in 2005,² and was identified as a respiratory sensitizer and possible asthma agent by the UK’s Health and Safety Executive.³

If you’re looking to avoid it, check out this full list of the brands and products that contain ADA. You can also support petition campaigns that have reached out to companies like Subway to kick ADA to the curb.

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Julie Fine

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Julie Fine is an AFAA-CGF, Beachbody INSANITY Coach, former chunky gal, 110% pure fitness junkie and an SEC-lovin' sorority girl at the University of Missouri.

When she isn't spending her extra time as a campus tour guide (Go Tigers!), she's probably scrounging around the aisles of Barnes & Noble or doing some impulse online shopping.

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References, Notes, Links

1. http://www.ewg.org/research/nearly-500-ways-make-yoga-mat-sandwich#brandtable [↩]
2. EFSA — EFSA publishes further evaluation on semicarbazide in food [↩]
3. Substances causing/worsening ashtma. [↩]