Food Court

Flour treatment agent

Potassium bromate

Also known as: Potassium bromate(VII), E 924, E924 (former EU number), Bromated flour (when added to flour), Potassium bromate, Bromic acid, potassium salt, CAS 7758-01-2, E924a, KBrO3, E924, E 924a

Potassium bromate is an inorganic oxidizing salt used as a flour treatment agent and dough conditioner to strengthen gluten and increase loaf volume in bread, rolls, and buns. It is still permitted in the United States but is banned or not authorized as a food additive in the EU, UK, Canada, and Brazil, and carries a cancer warning under California Proposition 65.

Is Potassium bromate safe? Is it banned or restricted? Below is the cited record — every claim linked to the regulator, study, or report that made it.

The charges against Potassium bromate

5 findings
Exhibit 01
Warning

Texas Senate Bill 25 (89th Legislature, 2025) lists this substance among 44 ingredients that trigger a mandatory consumer warning label under Texas Health & Safety Code Sec. 431.0815. The label reads: "WARNING: This product contains an ingredient that is not recommended for human consumption by the appropriate authority in Australia, Canada, the European Union, or the United Kingdom." It applies to food labels developed or copyrighted on or after January 1, 2027. On February 11, 2026 the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas preliminarily enjoined enforcement against the plaintiff trade groups and their members; Texas appealed to the Fifth Circuit on March 5, 2026.

Named in Texas SB 25 (2025) among 44 ingredients requiring a consumer warning label: "not recommended for human consumption by the appropriate authority in Australia, Canada, the European Union, or the United Kingdom." The requirement applies to labels developed or copyrighted on or after Jan 1, 2027, and was preliminarily enjoined by a federal court (W.D. Tex., Feb 11 2026); Texas’s appeal is pending at the Fifth Circuit.

Exhibit 04
Concern

Potassium bromate is possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B). There is inadequate evidence in humans for the carcinogenicity of potassium bromate. There is sufficient evidence in experimental animals for the carcinogenicity of potassium bromate.

The WHO's cancer agency (IARC) classifies potassium bromate as a possible human carcinogen (Group 2B), based on sufficient evidence of cancer in lab animals.

Exhibit 05
Concern

Toxicity and carcinogenicity of potassium bromate -- a new renal carcinogen. KBrO3 is a complete carcinogen, possessing both initiating and promoting activities for rat renal tumorigenesis, inducing renal cell tumors, mesotheliomas of the peritoneum, and follicular cell tumors of the thyroid; active oxygen radicals generated from KBrO3 were implicated in its toxic and carcinogenic effects.

A peer-reviewed review in Environmental Health Perspectives concludes potassium bromate is a complete renal carcinogen in rats, inducing kidney, peritoneal, and thyroid tumors via oxidative (free-radical) DNA damage.

Food Court reports publicly available findings from regulatory bodies, peer-reviewed research, and journalism. We cite every claim. We are not your doctor — we are a search engine for what's known about your food. Follow the links to the original sources.