Rizheng and Dengfeng flour brands add soybean components for bleaching and to increase gluten strength

The media recently sampled the ingredients of small-package flour sold on the market and found that some operators had added "soybean ingredients" to flour without disclosing them truthfully. According to health authority investigations, the 2 flour brands sampled by the media were "Dengfeng High-Gluten Flour" and "Rizheng Nanbeifang Premium Medium-Gluten Flour". Among them, the "Golden Lion Brand Active Extra-High-Gluten Flour" sold by Dengfeng's upstream Fengmeng Flour Mill had labeling on its outer bag, but when the downstream wholesaler Hongdachang repackaged and sold it under the "Dengfeng" brand, it was not truthfully labeled. After inspection, the health authority decided to impose a fine of 4 to 4 million under the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation. As for which stage of Rizheng Food's medium-gluten flour was not labeled, that is still under investigation.

Adding soybean or soybean meal powder to flour for bleaching and increasing gluten strength

It is understood that there are two possibilities for adding soybean ingredients to flour. Lu Xun, chairman of the Taiwan Grain Industry Development Association, pointed out that if operators add genuine "soybean flour," the lipoxygenase in soybean flour can oxidize the natural pigments in flour, making the flour whiter, and products such as steamed buns made from it will be whiter.

Another possibility is adding "soybean meal powder," that is, "defatted soybean flour." Lu Xun said that the purpose of adding this is to increase protein content. When operators add it, it is usually when making high-gluten flour, using cheaper soybean meal powder to increase gluten strength. However, it must be noted that if soybean meal powder is added to high-gluten flour, it may be necessary to additionally add food additives such as phosphates and oxidants to make the flour more elastic.

Chen Juncheng, a lecturer in the food technician credit class at the Extension Education Department of Chinese Culture University, who once ran a steamed bun shop, explained that in the early days when milling technology had not yet improved, flour milled from wheat was always yellowish and grayish. This was because milling had to start from the outer part of the wheat grain, but because the surface layer of wheat is darker in color, the milled flour would be grayer. At that time, flour mills would add soybean flour to make the flour whiter, but with improvements in equipment and technology, large flour mills today actually do not really need to add soybean flour.

Fengmeng Flour advertises "no bleaching agents added" yet adds soybean flour in its ingredients to achieve a bleaching effect