Public outrage over food additives has flared up again after an investigative report revealed widespread usage of a potentially harmful whitener used in flour.

Benzoyl peroxide is used by manufacturers in China, the US and many other countries to bleach flour.

Over the past 10 years, some major enterprises in the industry and the State Administration of Grain have applied to the Ministry of Health to ban the over use of benzoyl peroxide, China Central Television (CCTV) said. They hold that with the current technology, chemicals like benzoyl peroxide are not needed to produce quality flour.

However, small and medium sized enterprises, who own less advanced technologies and production facilities, are afraid that their profits could be hit if the chemical's usage is restricted as it also helps boost flour output.

Benzoyl peroxide is a chemical compound often used in over-the-counter acne treatments, hair dyes and teeth whitening formulas because of its proven use as an antiseptic and bleaching agent.

In China, it has been used as a flour whitener for about 20 years.

Experts have been long argued about the safety of this chemical. Some say that small amounts of the chemical are safe, while others hold that the chemical could damage the nutrients in the flour and may be carcinogenic.

Fan Zhihong, nutrition and food safety professor with the China Agriculture University, said that benzoyl peroxide is perfectly safe when the chemical is used according to the national standards.

"Food additives are not necessarily harmful. Sometimes additives are needed in order to provide consumers with products of the best quality," Fan added.

The Ministry of Health requires benzoyl peroxide in flour should not exceed 0.06 grams per kilo. Within this amount, it is considered to be safe.

Qin Zhenkui, former president of the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine, said at a food safety forum yesterday that "the government could only make the decision (to ban benzoyl peroxide) after careful research is completed."