For a few years I was making a point to purchase Bob's Red Mill Baking Soda because I'd heard Arm & Hammer Baking Soda contained aluminum, whereas Bob's Red Mill did not.
I don't know where my original source of information is but I drummed up a few that counter the notion I previously held.
- Quote:
-
Baking soda is 100% sodium bicarbonate. It comes from soda ash, which can be produced synthetically or harvested from natural sources.
---
On the other hand, Baking powder contains some sodium bicarbonate, but also has other ingredients that act as acidifying agents. This means that you don’t have to add extra acid to your recipes to get the leavening action. The acidifying agents can come in the form of cream of tartar or an aluminum-based acid (3).
**Ding Ding Ding**
And that’s where aluminum makes its entrance.
http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2014/01/baking-soda-aluminum.html
- Quote:
-
Why on earth would you want to pay dollars more per pound for something like Bob’s Red Mill when you can get Arm & Hammer for a stick of gum?
It has to do with the way the two things are procured. A brand like Bob’s Red Mill (or Frontier or various other natural brands of baking soda) are mined directly from the ground in their natural sodium bicarbonate state (also known as nahcolite). In fact, Bob’s Red Mill is mined right here in Colorado, so for me it’s kind of like buying local. Which is nice.
There are no chemical reactions, nothing added or fiddled with. It’s just pure sodium bicarbonate, the way the earth made it.
---
Baking soda does not contain aluminum, regardless of whether or not the package says “aluminum-free.”
Arm & Hammer (and other similar brands) use a chemical process that turns trona ore into soda ash and then reacts carbon dioxide with the soda ash to produce baking soda. This is not necessarily bad, per se, but it’s not the same as …
Brands like Bob’s Red Mill and Frontier procure their sodium bicarbonate directly from the ground, in its natural state.
https://crunchybetty.com/the-great-baking-soda-anti-hoax/
- Quote:
-
If you’re wondering how I know this know that I’m just brilliant that way. Just kidding. In all seriousness I emailed the company (which if you have a question you should ask them), and here was their reply:
“Thank you for taking the time to contact Church & Dwight Co., Inc. regarding ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda.
In response to your inquiry, ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda is 100% sodium bicarbonate and does not contain aluminum.”
http://www.gapalicious.com/2011/05/09/does-arm-and-hammer-baking-soda-contain-aluminum/
Jethro Kloss, author of Back to Eden was strongly against aluminum and discovered, when he and his family moved and purchased aluminum cookware that when used made them feel ill. In his book (around here somewhere) he has a recipe for homemade baking powder (iirc it is a combo of baking soda and cream of tarter). When I run across the book again, I will post the recipe. (Could also have been in Deaf Smith's Country Cook Book).
|
![]](http://z1.ifrm.com/static/1/pip_r.png)
8:42 AM Jul 13