3. Alternative product

The most common bread ferment is bakery leaven which betters the aroma and taste of the bread in addition to increasing the bulk of bread. However, because of slowness and difficulty of producing leave, production process the impossibility of industrial production, non-hygienic production process of leave, gradually, yeast which can be produced in mass via industrial methods became the alternative major agent in bread fermentation.
The first and the most common unauthorized chemical additive to bread is baking soda or sodium bicarbonate which was initially sold in herbalist shops as a basic medicine for healing digestive system problems. Probably, the product was first used for crispness of cookies and was then used for lightening of bread. It is to be mentioned that the British were the first who recommended the use of baking soda to Iranian bakers. At that time (70-80 years ago), citric acid was used in baking cookies, but chemicals were not used in bread. Currently, though bakery soda is not used in baking industry of Britain, it is widely used in bread and some cookies like (Yazdi cake) in Iran. Following the production of yeast in Iran Yeast Company (as the first yeast producer of the country) in 1968, this product was introduced to the Iranian society. However, fast population growth of city dwellers and the increasing trend of bread consumption along with some reasons such as ease of consumption, inexpensiveness and fast functioning of baking soda, the need for classification of yeasts according to varieties of baking flours, following specific instructions for using yeast, unfamiliarity of Iranian bakers with characteristics and merits of using yeast as well as shortage of hygienic yeast, caused the widespread use of baking soda within the country. Nowadays, it can be said that the amount of baking soda used by bakers and other flour products consumers is much more than the amount of yeast. Due to fast rising power and inexpensiveness comparing to yeast, baking soda is more popular among bakers and other provider of flour products. It is noteworthy that use of baking soda is forbidden according to the regulations of the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education.
Note: Functioning of baking soda in dough is not actually its fermentation, but it only makes the dough swell in the furnace and does not have any other merit.
Another alternative product for yeast is baking powder which is used in baking biscuits and other flour products.