LEAVENING AGENTS 3485
cases of clinical lead poisoning continue to be below that associated with toxic symptoms, it should
reported from this source of contamination. Despite
awareness of this potential problem improperly fired
pottery with lead-containing glazes continue to be
produced, predominantly in developing countries.
0016 Total food-related lead intake can be highly vari-
able, depending on the dietary pattern. Estimates of
average daily lead ingestion from food in western
cultures where studies have been performed have
typically ranged from 25 to 200 mg day
1, although
intakes as high as 400 mg day
1 have been reported
for some populations. The current US recommended
daily intake from all sources is 75 mg day
1 or less for
adults and 6 mg day
1 or less for children under 6
years of age. These amounts are one-tenth the daily
intake estimate to produce blood lead levels of
30 mg dl
1 in an adult and 10 mg dl
1 in a child.
0017 Dietary lead intake accounts for approximately
70% of the total daily lead absorption from all
sources in most studies. More recent studies, from
the US Food and Drug Administration, have found
significant reductions from these figures that are
attributed to almost complete elimination of lead-
soldered food cans and reduced airborne lead con-
tamination from leaded petrol. In these studies,
dietary lead was found to be less than half of the
daily lead intake.
Monitoring and Surveillance
0018 Monitoring of the lead content of foods is not rou-
tinely performed. Avoidance of lead contamination in
food preparation and food processing should be
sought as a part of an integrated public health pro-
gram to minimize lead exposure of the population.
While lead exposure from the diet is normally far
LEAVENING AGENTS
J L Vetter, Technical Assistance Services, Leawood,
KS, USA
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
History of Chemical Leavening
0001 Bakery foods that depend on chemical leavening
systems for their appearance, texture, and taste
are relatively recent developments. Whereas yeast-
leavened products have nourished humans for over
4000 years, chemically leavened products have been
be remembered that dietary lead is a major source of
an individual’s total lead intake. Although it is not
clear at what level harmful effects first occur in
humans, it is clear that lead is not an essential dietary
component and it is prudent to avoid the addition of
lead to food during its processing or preparation. This
begins with the obvious exclusion of food contact
with any lead-containing alloy in food processing
and preparation. It also means attention to more
subtle details, such as the exclusion of lead-based
solder from the repair of food-handling equipment
and being aware of the potential risk of lead contam-
ination from improperly glazed pottery containers.
See also: Contamination of Food; Renal Function and
Disorders: Kidney: Structure and Function
Further Reading
Carrington CD and Bolger PM (1992) An assessment of the
hazards of lead in food. Regulatory Toxicology and
Pharmacology 16: 265–272.
Ehle AL and McKee DC (1990) Neuropsychological effects
of lead in occupationally exposed workers: a critical
review. Critical Reviews in Toxicology 20: 237–255.
Mahaffey KR (ed.) (1985) Dietary and Environment Lead:
Human Health Effects. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science.
Smith MD, Grant LD and Sors AI (eds) (1989) Lead Expos-
ure and Child Development: An International Assess-
ment. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Tsuchiya K (1986) Lead. In: Friberg L, Nordberg GF and
Vouk VB (eds) Handbook of the Toxicology of Metals,
vol. II. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science.
US EPA (1986) Air Quality Criteria for Lead. Research
Triangle Park, North Carolina: US Environment Protec-
tion Agency.
available for less than 200 years. We have come to
enjoy a wide variety of chemically leavened products
as part of our daily menu. Some are sweet, e.g., cakes,
doughnuts, and biscuits, whereas others are more
bland, e.g., baking powder biscuits and many types
of crackers (see Figures 1 and 2).
Leavening with Yeast
The word ‘leaven’ comes from the Latin word ‘levare’ 0002
or ‘levo,’ which means ‘to raise’ or ‘to make light by
aeration.’ Leavened or aerated baked foods can be
 3486 LEAVENING AGENTS
fig0001 Figure 1 Leavening agents: machine-cut doughnut production.
(Courtesy of Rhone-Poulenc, New Jersey.)
fig0002 Figure 2 Examples of chemically leavened baked goods.
traced as far back as 2000 bc, when Egyptians used
yeast to leaven bread. (See Bread: Breadmaking Pro-
cesses; Yeasts.)
Chemical Leavening
0003 Yeast was the primary source of leavening gas to raise
baked foods until late in the eighteenth century, when
it was discovered that sour milk or buttermilk would
release carbon dioxide gas from sodium bicarbonate
(baking soda) during baking of a dough or batter
to which these ingredients had been added. Carbon
dioxide from baking soda is the same gas as that
released by yeast during fermentation of a dough.
0004 Sour milk and buttermilk were replaced in many
recipes with cream of tartar after about 1835. Cream
of tartar (potassium bitartrate) was obtained as a
byproduct from wine-making. There were early
attempts to combine the baking soda and cream of
tartar into a more convenient blended product, and
this led to the development of baking powders. A US
chemist by the name of Hoagland, living in Fort
Wayne, Indiana, originated the cream of tartar baking
powder in 1850 and founded the Royal Baking
Powder Company.
Sour milk, buttermilk, and cream of tartar all had 0005
one thing in common: they released the carbon
dioxide from baking soda very rapidly, and much of
the leavening gas was actually lost during the mixing
of a dough or batter, resulting in a baked product with
less volume than desired. There was a need for a
material that would not react so quickly and allow
sufficient time for mixing and forming products
before the leavening gas was released. This led to
the development in the mid-1800s of monocalcium
phosphate (MCP; also known as acid calcium phos-
phate, ACP) as an alternative to cream of tartar.
Although MCP is considered a ‘fast-acting’ leavening
acid, it is a little slower than cream of tartar. A patent
was issued in 1864 for such an acidic phosphate
leavening agent. However, better agents for control-
ling or delaying leavening activity were still required,
and this need led to the development of a number of
alternatives to cream of tartar and MCP for use with
baking soda. Sodium aluminum sulfate (SAS) was
developed in the early 1890s, sodium acid pyropho-
sphates (SAPPs) in the early 1900s, and sodium alu-
minum phosphates (SALPs) around 1960.
Design of Leavening Systems
There are three primary factors to consider in 0006
designing a chemical leavening system for a specific
product. These are:
1. How much leavening gas is needed to produce the 0007
desired finished product?
2. What leavening acid is needed to achieve the 0008
desired product characteristics?
3. What other effects might the leavening acid have 0009
on the dough, batter, or finished product?
This article will discuss these three factors and
describe the characteristics of commercially available
chemical leavening agents and their application in
specific bakery foods.
Mechanisms of Chemical Leavening
Air and Water as Leaveners
Although air and water are ‘chemicals’ in the truest 0010
sense of the word, they are generally not considered
‘chemical leavening agents.’ Nevertheless, air and
water do provide leavening activity in a number
of bakery products. Air, which is incorporated
into a dough or batter as small gas cells during
mixing, will expand during baking and cause some
leavening of the product. In fact, air is the primary
leavening agent in a fat-free sponge cake. During
baking, water contained in the dough or batter will

be vaporized by the heat of the oven and cause a
leavening – or raising – of the product. Water is the
primary leavening agent for saltine crackers, contrib-
uting to the tender, flaky texture of the product. The
contributions of air and water to the leavening and
characteristics of baked products should not be over-
looked in designing a leavening system based on more
traditional ‘chemical’ leavening agents.
Leavening by Decomposition
0011 There are two primary chemical leavening agents that
can release carbon dioxide gas by decomposition
during baking. These are sodium bicarbonate (baking
soda) and ammonium bicarbonate. Heat is required
for these materials to decompose, and the tempera-
ture of baking is generally adequate for this purpose.
Sodium bicarbonate decomposes when dissolved and
heated to release carbon dioxide according to eqn (1).
Heat
2NaHCO3 H2O + CO2 + Na2CO3. (1)
Ammonium bicarbonate decomposes when dissolved
and heated according to eqn (2).
Heat
NH4HCO3 NH3 + H2O + CO2. (2)
Both ammonia and carbon dioxide are gases and
contribute to the leavening of the baked product.
Leavening by Chemical Reaction
0012 The vast majority of chemical leavening systems are
based on the reaction of an acid with sodium bicar-
bonate to release chemically the carbon dioxide from
the soda, and it is with these systems that the majority
of this article is concerned. A general equation for the
reaction is shown in eqn (3).
Moisture
HX + NaHCO3 NaX + H2O + CO2. (3)
Heat
(Neutral sodium salt)
In addition to the carbon dioxide leavening gas, water
is released, and a sodium salt of the leavening acid
is formed. The nature of the neutral sodium salt
depends on the leavening acid being used.
0013 There are a number of leavening acids from which
to choose in formulating a chemical leavening system.
They differ in the amount required to release com-
pletely all of the carbon dioxide in the soda, the speed
with which they release this leavening gas, and their
effects on doughs, batters, and finished product
characteristics.
0014 Neutralizing value The neutralizing value (NV) is a
term used to describe the amount of leavening acid
needed to react completely with the amount of baking
soda used in formulating a bakery product. If all of
LEAVENING AGENTS 3487
the soda reacts with the leavening acid, the finished
product should be close to neutral in pH, which is
desired in most products. Higher (alkaline) or lower
(acidic) pHs can be achieved, if desired, by adjusting
the amount of leavening acid and/or soda from the
amounts needed for complete reaction.
The NV is defined as the weight of soda neutralized 0015
by 100 parts of leavening acid. Since most formulae
for bakery products begin with a given weight of soda
(the weight needed to give the desired amount of
leavening gas), the NV is most commonly used to
determine the amount of leavening acid required for
the amount of soda used according to the following
equation:
% Soda  100
% Leavening acid ¼ : ð4Þ
NV
The NVs for commonly used leavening acids are listed
in Table 1. It should be noted that larger amounts of
leavening acids with low NVs are required for a given
amount of soda than for those leavening acids with
higher NVs. This could be a factor in the economics of
developing a leavening system.
Rate of reaction The speed with which a leavening 0016
acid reacts with baking soda to release carbon dioxide
leavening gas is very important in controlling the
characteristics of the finished baked product. If
the acid reacts too rapidly with the soda, all of the
leavening gas could be released during mixing and,
therefore, would not be available to raise the product
during baking. In this case, the finished product
would be low in volume and dense in texture. How-
ever, if the acid reacts with the soda too late in the
baking process, the structure of the product will be
‘set’ by the heat of baking, and the leavening gas
cannot raise the product without causing cracks or
splits.
The release of some leavening gas, or incorporation 0017
of some air, during mixing is desirable for the forma-
tion of small air or gas cells in the dough or batter.
This process, called ‘nucleation,’ is responsible for the
development of a fine and uniform grain in the final
Table 1 NVs of commonly used leavening acids tbl0001
Leavening acid NV
Monocalcium phosphate monohydrate 80
Anhydrous monocalcium phosphate 83
Sodium acid pyrophosphate 74
Sodium aluminum phosphate 100
Dicalcium phosphate dihydrate 33
Dimagnesium phosphate 40
Sodium aluminum sulfate 104
Cream of tartar 45
Glucono-d-lactone 45
 3488 LEAVENING AGENTS
product. However, most of the leavening gas should
be reserved for release at the proper time during
baking in order to achieve the total volume desired.
0018 A number of factors affect the proper time for
release of gas during baking. Product size is certainly
important. A small product will heat, and the struc-
ture will set, faster than a larger product. Oven
temperature obviously affects the rate at which a
product’s temperature rises to the point of setting
the structure. Other ingredients in the formula can
affect the temperature at which a product sets. The
amount of time to mix fully a dough or batter and the
time required to form or deposit the product to be
baked will influence the time at which the leavening
acid should react with the baking soda.
0019 The manufacturers of leavening acids have at-
tempted to meet all the diverse needs of the house-
hold, institutional and large-scale wholesale baker by
developing and marketing products with a wide range
of ‘reaction rates.’
0020 Some materials have essentially no delay in their
reaction with baking soda. They react as soon as they
dissolve in the water present in the formula; the soda
has probably already dissolved. These materials
include the lactic acid in sour milk or buttermilk,
cream of tartar, and MCP monohydrate.
0021 Anhydrous monocalcium phosphate (AMCP) has a
time delay, which, although relatively short, does
allow time for preparing doughs and batters for
baking. A major use for AMCP has been self-raising
flour, which is often used to prepare baking powder-
type biscuits. The time delay of AMCP allows suffi-
cient time for mixing, rolling, and cutting the dough
prior to baking.
0022 Manufacturers of SAPPs have been able to vary the
amount of time delay of these leavening acids from a
few minutes to as much as an hour or more. This is
done by controlling the conditions under which the
SAPP is manufactured.
0023 SAS, SALP, and dicalcium phosphate dihydrate
(DCP) are basically heat-triggered leavening acids.
They have essentially no reaction with soda until the
temperature of the product is raised by the heat of
baking. In some baked products, this delay may be
too long, and SAS, SALP, and DCP perform better
when used in combination with a faster-acting
leavening agent such as MCP or AMCP. Of course,
all leavening agents are essentially ‘heat triggered,’
since they dissolve and react with soda faster as the
temperature of the dough or batter increases. Never-
theless, the term ‘heat triggered’ is usually reserved
for those materials that have an almost indefinite time
delay until the temperature rises to a certain point, in
contrast to those leavening agents that are both time
and temperature triggered.
Table 2 Rates of reaction with baking soda for commonly used tbl0002
leavening acids
Leavening acid Rate of reaction
Cream of tartar Rapid
Monocalcium phosphate monohydrate Intermediate
Anhydrous monocalcium phosphate Intermediate (slower)
Sodium acid pyrophosphates Slow
Sodium aluminum phosphate Very slow
Sodium aluminum sulphate Very slow
Dicalcium phosphate dihydrate Very slow
Dimagnesium phosphate Slow
Glucono-d-lactone Slow
Glucono-d-lactone (GDL) does not fit any of the 0024
above categories of no delay, time delay, and tempera-
ture triggered. GDL reacts continuously, but slowly,
with baking soda. The speed of reaction, of course,
increases with temperature and becomes quite rapid
during baking. The steady release of carbon dioxide
in a dough containing GDL is very similar to the
release of carbon dioxide by yeast in a fermenting
dough. Therefore, GDL has been popular in the
development of chemically leavened bread.
The rates of reaction of commonly used leavening 0025
acids are listed in Table 2.
Ionic effects of leaveners Although the primary 0026
function of chemical leavening systems is to leaven,
or raise, a product, leavening agents can also affect
characteristics of doughs, batters, and the finished
baked product. These effects are due to reactions
between the leavening agents and components (par-
ticularly starch and protein) of the dough or batter.
These are called ‘ionic’ effects, since the leavening
agents dissolve in the water of the dough or batter
and dissociate into positive cations and negative
anions. In some cases, it is the cation (such as calcium
ions) that is responsible for the observed effect. In
other cases, it is the anion (such as pyrophosphate)
that causes a change in the dough, batter, or finished
product.
The calcium and aluminum cations in phosphate- 0027
based leavening acids provide more resiliency to cake
products than the sodium cation in other phosphate-
based leavening agents. Therefore, if resiliency is a
property desired in a cake product, the formulator
may choose a leavening system containing calcium
and/or aluminum ions. Calcium ions tend to stiffen
doughs and thicken batters; they also tend to dry out
moist or slightly sticky doughs. These properties of
doughs and batters are important considerations in
handling and processing, particularly in high-speed,
automated commercial bakeries. (See Bread: Dough
Mixing and Testing Operations.)

0028 The pyrophosphate anion in SAPP leavener inter-
acts with proteins from other ingredients in the for-
mula. This tends to result in a moister texture, which
is usually desirable. Unfortunately, the pyrophos-
phate ion also imparts a slightly bitter aftertaste
when used at higher levels. Therefore, the product
formulator must try to balance such desirable and
undesirable effects in developing a leavening system
for a specific product.
0029 Final product pH can affect the color of a baked
product, and the pH can be controlled by the
leavening system. In white products such as white
layer cakes, a pH that is slightly below neutral accen-
tuates whiteness. This lower pH can be achieved by
adjusting the balance between leavening acid and
baking soda (more acid, less soda) or by selection of
leavening acid. Pyrophosphate leavening acids tend to
buffer pH in the range 7.3–7.5 and it is somewhat
difficult to lower the pH by adjusting the pyro-
phosphate and soda balance. Calcium phosphates,
however, do not have the pH buffering capacity of
the pyrophosphates, and pH can be manipulated
more easily by adjusting the acid/soda balance. The
color and flavor of chocolate products are enhanced
by higher pH. Again, this can be achieved by selection
of leavening acid and/or adjustment of the acid/soda
balance (less acid, more soda).
0030 The development of a suitable leavening system is a
highly complex activity. The formulator has a number
of objectives to meet, and fortunately, there is
available a number of leavening agents with varying
properties to help meet these objectives.
Characteristics of Leavening Agents
Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda)
0031 As mentioned previously, the heat of baking can cause
baking soda to decompose, giving off carbon dioxide
leavening gas without reacting with a leavening acid.
The sodium carbonate formed by the decomposition
of baking soda is very alkaline and will tend to give
the baked product a high pH. This is desirable in
some applications, because the high pH enhances
certain flavors, such as chocolate. Many recipes for
chocolate chip cookies call for leavening only with
baking soda.
Ammonium Bicarbonate
0032 Ammonium bicarbonate will also decompose during
baking and release ammonia and carbon dioxide
leavening gases without reacting with a leavening
acid. Unlike sodium bicarbonate, which leaves a resi-
due of alkaline sodium carbonate, ammonium bicar-
LEAVENING AGENTS 3489
bonate leaves no residue when it decomposes by heat.
It, therefore, has no effect on the pH of the baked
product. If there is more than about 5% moisture in
the baked product, however, the ammonia gas will
dissolve in this water and impart an ammoniacal
flavor to the product. For this reason, ammonium
bicarbonate is used only in low-moisture products
such as crackers.
Cream of Tartar
Cream of tartar (potassium acid tartrate) reacts very 0033
rapidly with soda in a dough or batter, releasing
70–80% of the leavening gas within 2 min of comple-
tion of mixing. For this reason, it has little application
in commercial production of bakery foods, since
there is insufficient time to process the dough prior
to baking.
Sodium Aluminum Sulfate
SAS is a very slow-reacting leavening agent and does 0034
not release leavening gas until the product is in the
oven, and its temperature rises. SAS is most often
used in combination with a faster-acting leavening
acid such as MCP. This combination (SAS and
MCP) is the most popular composition of household
baking powders. SAS is not used extensively in com-
mercial baking.
Monocalcium Phosphates
Monocalcium phosphate leavening acids are avail- 0035
able in two forms: the monohydrate (MCP) and the
anhydrous product (AMCP). The monohydrate is
fast-acting, although slightly slower than cream of
tartar. It is usually used in combination with slower-
acting leavening agents. MCP will release leavening
gas from baking soda during mixing, which is desir-
able in achieving a fine, uniform grain in the baked
product as long as a slower-acting leavener is present
to provide leavening gas during baking. AMCP is
coated with a slowly dissolving phosphate material
that delays its reaction with baking soda. This delay is
relatively short, but sufficient for some products that
are baked in the home. These products include
biscuits, pancakes, and waffles.
Sodium Acid Pyrophosphates
SAPPs are available with a range of reaction rates 0036
from slow to very slow. SAPPs are used almost exclu-
sively in some applications such as cake doughnuts
and canned, refrigerated biscuit doughs. They are
one of several options available to the formulator of
cakes, biscuits, pancakes, etc. The aftertaste, to which
many people are sensitive, somewhat limits the use of
 3490 LEAVENING AGENTS
SAPPs, particularly since the development of SALP
leavening agents.
Sodium Aluminum Phosphates
0037 SALPs are the most recently developed chemical
leavening agents. They are very slow-reacting with
baking soda and are often marketed as blends with a
faster-acting leavener such as MCP or AMCP. SALPs
have become quite popular with product formulators,
because of their high NV, relatively low cost, lack of
undesirable flavors, and ability to be blended with
other leaveners to achieve optimized properties for
specific applications.
Dicalcium Phosphate Dihydrate
0038 DCP is not technically a leavening ‘acid,’ because it is
an alkaline phosphate salt. However, when incorpor-
ated into a dough or batter and subjected to the heat
of baking, DCP decomposes to MCP and tricalcium
phosphate (TCP). The TCP is insoluble, precipitates
out of the system, and leaves MCP – a fast-acting
leavening agent – to react with baking soda. The
temperature at which DCP decomposes is relatively
high (55–60  C), so that decomposition occurs rather
late in the baking process. For this reason, DCP is
classified as a very slow-acting leavening agent and is
commonly used in combination with a fast-acting
leavener.
Dimagnesium phosphate
0039 Magnesium phosphate is a new leavening acid that is
slow-acting and is activated by heat (40  C). It has a
clean flavor profile, provides a uniform cell structure,
and imparts moistness to baked product crumbs. It is
particularly useful in frozen and fresh baked cakes,
muffins, biscuits, and pizza crusts.
Lecithin See Phospholipids: Properties and Occurrence; Determination; Physiology
Leeks See Onions and Related Crops
Glucono-d-lactone
GDL is an organic compound that forms gluconic acid 0040
when dissolved in water. It reacts slowly, but steadily
with baking soda. The rate of reaction, of course, in-
creases as the temperature of the dough or batter in-
creases during baking. GDL has a low NV of about 45,
requiring about two parts of GDL for every one part of
soda. It is, therefore, relatively expensive to use and
finds limited application in specialized products.
Summary
The technology of chemical leavening is quite com- 0041
plex, because of the varying requirements of different
products and processes. It is made even more complex
by the availability of a variety of chemical leavening
agents, each with its own set of properties, advan-
tages and disadvantages.
An understanding of the technology of chemical 0042
leavening should lead to the production of even better,
cost-effective, and consumer-satisfying bakery foods.
See also: Bread: Dough Mixing and Testing Operations;
Breadmaking Processes; Yeasts
Further Reading
Dubios DK (1981) Chemical leavening. Technical Bulletin,
vol. 3, No. 9. Manhattan: American Institute of Baking.
Kichline TP and Conn JF (1970) Some fundamental aspects
of leavening agents. The Bakers Digest August: 36–40.
LaBaw GD (1982) Chemical leavening agents and their use
in bakery products. The Bakers Digest February: 16–21.
Reiman HM (1977) Chemical leavening systems. The
Bakers Digest August: 33–36, 42.