Purpose / Use

​​ADA is approved in the US for use as a dough strengthener and flour-treating agent.1

Products

ADA is used in a variety of food products and in food contact materials. It is primarily found in bread products including cookies, dough, noodles and snacks. According to the USDA Branded Foods Database, ADA is used in hundreds of foods sold in the US.

Safety assessment

ADA is used in foods despite concerns regarding its safe use. Safety concerns mainly stem from its breakdown products, semicarbazide (SEM) and ethyl carbamate (EC; also known as urethane), that form during the cooking process. The FDA itself recognizes that ADA forms SEM and EC during the baking process and acknowledges that both SEM and EC are associated with cancer in animals.2,3

The FDA states that at high levels, SEM increases the incidence of tumors in female mice.2 In 1987, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) found that SEM caused blood vessel and lung tumors in mice4 and classified it as Group 3 (“not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans”) based on limited evidence of carcinogenicity in animals.

A 1997 FDA study found that the use of ADA as a dough conditioner increased the EC content in baked breads.3 EC is recognized by multiple authorities as a multisite, genotoxic carcinogen, meaning it causes cancer by damaging DNA. A 2006 evaluation by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) found that EC caused lung and liver cancers in multiple rodent species as well as in non-human primates.5 In 2010, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified EC as “probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A)” based on “sufficient evidence in experimental animals”.6 A 2021 report by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) classifies EC as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” based on sufficient evidence from animal studies.7

Notably, ADA is banned from use in the EU as a dough-improver or flour-treatment agent in flour or as a food contact material.8 Importantly, FDA acknowledges that ADA “…is not necessary to make bread and there are alternative ingredients approved for use available.”2

The FDA placed ADA on its List of Select Chemicals in the Food Supply Under FDA Review in August 20259 and CSPI submitted comments to the FDA in July 2026 requesting the agency take action to protect consumers from ADA.10

Based on the cancer risks of SEM and EC, CSPI rates ADA as Avoid.

References

  1. US Food and Drug Administration. Substances Added to Food (formerly EAFUS):  AZODICARBONAMIDE. https://www.hfpappexternal.fda.gov/scripts/fdcc/index.cfm?set=FoodSubstances&id=AZODICARBONAMIDE
  2. US Food and Drug Administration. Azodicarbonamide (ADA) Frequently Asked Questions. January 4, 2018. Accessed June 8, 2026. Available: https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/azodicarbonamide-ada-frequently-asked-questions
  3. Canas, BJ et al. Ethyl Carbamate Levels Resulting from Azodicarbonamide Use in Bread. US Food and Drug Administration. Food Additives and Contaminants. 1997.14(1); 89-94. Available: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9059587/
  4. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Some Carbamates, Thiocarbamates and Carbazides. IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risk of Chemicals to Man, 1976.12: Available: https://publications.iarc.who.int/Book-And-Report-Series/Iarc-Monographs-On-The-Identification-Of-Carcinogenic-Hazards-To-Humans/Some-Carbamates-Thiocarbamates-And-Carbazides-1976
  5. WHO. Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). WHO Food Additive Series 55. FAO Food and Nutrition Paper 82. 2006. Available: https://iris.who.int/server/api/core/bitstreams/c077017a-884c-4c28-892a-b99e572c46e0/content
  6. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Alcohol Consumption and Ethyl Carbamate. IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans, 2010. 96: Available: https://publications.iarc.who.int/114
  7. US National Toxicology Program. 15th Report on Carcinogens. Urethane. 2021. Available: https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/research/assessments/cancer/roc#:~:text=The%20U.S.%20Department%20of%20Health,prepares%20for%20the%20HHS%20Secretary
  8. European Food Safety Authority. Opinion of the Scientific Panel on Food Additives, Flavourings, Processing Aids and Materials in Contact with Food on a request from the Commission related to Semicarbazide in food: Question number EFSA-2003-235. EFSA Journal. 2005; 219:1-36. Available: https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2005.219
  9. S Food and Drug Administration. List of Select Chemicals in the Food Supply Under FDA Review. May 27, 2026. Accessed: June 8, 2026. Available: https://www.fda.gov/food/food-chemical-safety/list-select-chemicals-food-supply-under-fda-review
  10. The Center for Science in the Public Interest. CSPI's comments to FDA on azodicarbonamide (ADA). July 16, 2026. Available: https://www.cspi.org/resource/cspis-comments-fda-azodicarbonamide-ada

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