Vani Hari on azodicarbonamide: warns against

Azodicarbonamide — the bread conditioner Hari branded “the yoga-mat chemical” — was her breakout campaign in 2013–2014 against Subway. She noted that the ingredient is also used in foamed plastics and is banned in food in Europe and Australia. Subway agreed to remove it in April 2014.

Her stated reasoning was the vivid comparison: an ingredient shared with yoga mats, she argued, had no business in sandwich bread, especially when Subway’s own recipes in other countries didn’t use it. Critics pushed back hard — University of Florida professor Kevin Folta called it “a perfectly safe food additive for years,” and it has long been FDA-recognized as safe at permitted levels, per C&EN.

The campaign remains her most famous win and the template for every petition-driven fight that followed: find the vivid comparison, gather signatures, pressure the brand.

This page chronicles a stated position of the person above. It is not medical advice and not the site's own conclusion.