Subway assures mainland customers

US-based Subway, one of the world's largest fast-food chains, said Monday that the bread it uses in the Chinese mainland does not contain a chemical substance called azodicarbonamide, calling for Chinese consumers to "rest assured."

The announcement came after foreign media reported that US consumers have been protesting Subway's use of the chemical to enhance bread's elasticity, but which poses a potential health hazard.

The news caused a stir among netizens when they discovered the same chemical is also used in making yoga mats and shoe soles.

"Azodicarbonamide is not present in any bread sold in Subway restaurants in the mainland. However, while it is fully approved by relevant government authorities in the US, this particular ingredient is already in the process of being removed from US bread," Subway said on its official Sina Weibo account.

Some food safety experts were quoted by the National Business Daily (NBD) on Monday as saying that azodicarbonamide itself is safe, but it might release a chemical substance that causes cancer when being baked at high temperature.

According to the NBD, while the US, Brazil, and the Chinese mainland allow the legal use of azodicarbonamide in food-making, it has already been banned in Singapore, Australia, Japan and the EU a long time ago due to its potential hazards.

In recent years, Western fast-food chain stores have expanded rapidly in China, lowering their threshold for franchise membership along the way.

Subway alone expanded from 355 stores to 400 stores during a period of nine months last year.

The chemical is also found in the bread products of other US chains such as McDonald's and Starbucks in the US, according to CNN.

An e-mail sent to the Global Times by McDonald on Monday said that there is no azodicarbonamide in the bread it uses in the Chinese market. Starbucks did not reply to inquiries from the Global Times by press time.