“Many have been brought to their death by eating heavy, sour bread.” [CH 145.3]. So wrote Ellen White in 1868 as part of her efforts to encourage people to learn how to cook healthy meals, and I always had trouble understanding this statement. Things became more clear after discovering that 19th century bakers regularly tried to increase profits by replacing some of the flour with unhealthy and even poisonous ingredients. They would add alum, chalk, plaster of Paris, clay, sawdust and even finely ground animal bones to the dough to bulk it up and make it as white as possible. Alum can be poisonous if eaten; 2 to 3 teaspoons are enough to make a person very ill, triggering liver failure, kidney failure, and even death. These flour substitutes in “store bought” bread produced a food that was lacking in healthy calories and nutrients, leading to malnutrition in those- especially children- who ate it regularly.
This is one of the reasons EGW urged young people to learn the science of healthy cooking for themselves and their families. She understood that well prepared food was key to the well-being of our bodies and minds.