Is enriched bleached flour vegan?

Enriched bleached flour is wheat flour that has been treated with bleaching agents to whiten its color and fortified with specific vitamins and minerals. It is produced by milling the starchy endosperm of wheat, exposing the flour to oxidizing agents such as benzoyl peroxide or chlorine gas to speed up the aging process, and adding nutrients lost during refining. This ingredient is commonly found in commercially produced baked goods, including sandwich breads, cakes, cookies, pastries, crackers, and packaged baking mixes.

Enriched bleached flour is vegan because all of its components are derived from plant, mineral, microbial, or synthetic origins. Wheat provides the plant-based foundation. The standard enrichment blend includes iron along with B vitamins such as thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and folic acid, which are manufactured through chemical synthesis or microbial fermentation rather than animal extraction. Additionally, the chemical bleaching agents used in processing are non-animal compounds, meaning no animal inputs or animal-derived processing aids are involved in its production.