Each week on Instagram I do infographics that show the ingredients that are in common foods. One of the ingredients I come across again and again is DATEM. Going into today’s blog I had no idea if it was food, a chemical, or filler? So today I will answer two questions for our enquiring minds. What is DATEM and is it safe?
What is DATEM Used For?
DATEM is an acronym that stands for Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Ester of Mono and Diglycerides. That is a real mouthful and not helpful to this conversation. The primary answer to the question is DATEM is an ingredient used to strengthen gluten in dough to give bread the springy texture that people have come to love and expect.
DATEM is a synthetic or man-made ingredient with Tartaric Acid being the only real thing obtained through nature. Tartaric Acid is formed from the fermentation process in fruits such as grapes, bananas and citrus.
Is DATEM Safe?
DATEM is safe by most food agency standards across the world including the two largest in the United States and Europe. DATEM is also considered a very good preservative and is found in many items other than bread. If you are buying packaged items, you are more than likely eating DATEM. Things such as coffee creamers, ice cream, salad dressings, and canned soups all contain DATEM.
What does this long list of products have to do with safety? Well anecdotally one could say that with that many people eating it without large circles of sickness it must be safe. Right? Not exactly.
A study performed by Health Canada that gave doses of DATEM to lab rats showed cases of heart fibrosis and adrenal overgrowth. Peer reviews on the study pointed out these were very large doses of DATEM, and no human studies exist. With the amount of DATEM in common products though one could say we take in large doses already.
The Issue with DATEM
The obvious issue you are likely realizing about answering this question is how scientific and wordy it is. Researching this was a nightmare because I’m not a lab tech or chemistry major. DATEM is such a hybrid of materials that the common person can’t figure it out. This has led to the backlash against DATEM.
Baking Business Today ran a recent article saying that DATEM is falling out of favor with consumers because it’s a negative sounding chemical. People are moving away form things they don’t understand and DATEM is near the top of the list. The article says business should be moving to a “clean label” where people have a true understanding of what is going in their bodies.
What is DATEM Alternatives
Naturally there must be something to replace DATEM if commercial bakeries are moving away from it. There is and it’s natural. Lecithin which is already in many products is a naturally occurring fat in things such as egg yolks and soybeans.
Personally, I don’t take in soy for my keto journey, but it’s certainly a lot better than a material that takes an army to create. But we do have a long way to go before these alternatives replace DATEM across the board because they are more expensive to produce, and food companies will need to see a major back lash before making that change.
So… What is DATEM
That was a long answer for what could have been a one paragraph blog:
DATEM is another item in a long list of chemicals that food companies use to trick us into thinking we are eating a healthy diet when we are filling ourselves with things we weren’t supposed to eat. If you stick to the outside aisles of the grocery store with fresh meats and produce not only, will you stay on your keto journey, but you will avoid garbage like DATEM.
Bill
