questions/concerns about bromated flour

Factual Questions
1

I recently got a new brand of bread, and checking the ingredients list I noticed it said “unbromated unbleached flour”. Does that mean that all American flour is bromated unless it says otherwise? What I’ve read about bromate suggests that while you aren’t going to turn blue and drop dead from it, it maybe isn’t the healthiest stuff in the world to eat regularly.

The thing is, I am trying to address my weight problem, and I have serious issues with gorging on anything made of white flour. Except I DON’T have any urge to gorge this one brand of bread. Coincidence, or is there something to it?

2

Potassium bromate is a suspected carcinogen, but due to grandfathering it’s still legal in flour, although many states require labeling. Typically, bromated flour is used in bread production. Potassium bromate promotes gluten formation, which “makes the bread stronger and more elastic, and also promotes big rises of bread… It tends to be used in low protein flours more commonly, since these flours do not develop enough gluten on their own.”

(Portion in quotes shamelessly cribbed from various websites)