This study is the first investigation of potassium bromate as a food additive in Tunisian breads. In this study, levels of residual bromate were determined in 91 commercial breads from 31 bakeries randomly selected in two Tunisian cities. In total, 13 different types of bread were analyzed using a spectrophotometric method of bromate analysis. Bromate concentrations ranged from 5.95 to 49.31 μg g-1, with an overall mean concentration of 19.92 μg g-1. Significant differences were noticed between bromate levels in breads from bakeries of the two cities (P < 0.01). Based on the types of breads, Muffin contained the highest mean concentration of bromate residue (29.92 μg g-1) as opposed to bread without salt, which had the lowest mean bromate level (13.53 μg g-1). Compared to data available from other countries, our results showed relatively high bromate levels, which could potentially lead to long term toxic and carcinogenic effects in the Tunisian population.
Keywords: Bizerte city; Bread; Mahdia city; Potassium bromate; Survey; Tunisia.