Please, don’t reach for your box of baking soda until you read this article. If I hadn’t become aware of the dangers of GMOs and other poisons in our food supply, I would have never asked, “What is baking soda and where does it come from?” Learn all you need to know about baking soda for the health of your family.
While baking soda is a natural product, they are not all equal. It’s baking soda, there wouldn’t be a reason for anyone to mess with that, right? Wrong.
As we continued to make the transition into a non-Gmo, organic, no processed food life, I began to wonder about the base ingredients I was using to prepare our food and make our hygiene products.
I began researching natural baking soda and what I found shocked and befuddled me!
What is Baking Soda?
True natural baking soda is a naturally occurring mineral found in evaporated lake beds. Its use dates back at least as far as the ancient Egyptians who used it for mummification, medicinal purposes, personal hygiene, and household tasks.
In its natural form, baking soda is called nahcolite.
We usually think of cooking or cleaning when we think of it. It reacts with liquid releasing carbon dioxide making that bubbling action we’re all familiar with. This is why it is used as a raising agent in baking.
All Baking Sodas are Not Created Equal
So where does baking soda come from? Most of the world’s baking soda is made by chemical reactions! Shocked? I know I was.
Naturally mined baking soda is not the mainstay on our grocery shelves, but it is available if you know how and where to look for it.
how is baking soda made?
Almost all of the baking soda in the United States and about 1/4 of the world, comes from Green River, Wyoming. In Wyoming, trona ore is mined from the earth as a raw material. It is then “refined” using chemicals to get soda ash.
Then the soda ash is treated with heat and carbon dioxide to create sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and sodium phosphates (detergents). Ta-Da! You now have chemically created it! The kind that comes in the “orange box….”
This blows my mind! Why go through all that trouble to chemically create it when it can be mined straight from the earth in its natural form?
Baking Soda Uses
As one of the most useful products in our homes, there are many jobs it does excellently. Here are just a few of them:
- a rising agent in cooking
- taking some of the gas out of beans while cooking
- scrubbing agent for cleaning
- deodorizer and odor absorber
- personal hygiene
- fungicide and insecticide in the garden
- abrasive agent for scrubbing
Natural baking soda is not a health risk to animals or humans. However, chemically created baking soda brings risk simply because of the way it’s created.
To be cost-effective, I do use the “orange box” for cleaning tasks instead of natural baking soda. Since I wear gloves to scrub things, it doesn’t come into contact with my skin.
Can Baking Soda Be Organic?
I’ve been asked this question a lot. My answer surprises almost every person who asks, “No, there’s no such thing as organic baking soda. There may be a label that reads ‘organic’ but that would be a marketing ploy.”
Read the labels, know the company as best you can, and be certain you are purchasing a 100% pure natural product.
Choices for Buying Natural Baking Soda
You will be glad to know that there are some sources for the 100% Pure thing. I buy Bob’s Red Mill as I believe it to be the best natural baking soda. They mine it in Colorado, directly from the ground in its natural state of nahcolite (sodium bicarbonate). There are no chemical reactions needed or used, just pure sodium bicarbonate.
There are a few other choices out there like Frontier Brand. You need to do your research and make a purchase you have confidence in.
We do all that we can to avoid chemicals and unnatural products. It really isn’t that much more expensive and the peace of mind I get when cooking our food, or brushing our teeth is worth a couple of dollars to me.
The Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder
This is a common question I get when I share a recipe or help someone who is learning to cook from scratch.
Baking soda and baking powder are both leavening agents used in bread, pies, cakes, cookies, pastries and various other kinds of baked goods.
Baking soda starts to work as soon as it comes in contact with liquid. Because it’s alkaline, it’s used in recipes that have an acidic liquid such as apple cider vinegar, buttermilk, or lemon juice which makes it more effective. When activated, carbon dioxide is released causing the fluffy rise you desire in baked goods.
Baking powder is considered a “complete” rising agent because it is made of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and is an acidic agent. It comes in single-acting and double-acting. What you will find in most grocery stores is double-acting which means it has two stages of rising, one when liquid is added and a second from the heat of cooking. Single-acting is almost always used in commercial baked goods and as its name implies, reacts only once when they’re exposed to the heat of cooking.
I hope this clears up your questions about what it is and whether all baking sodas are created equal. As we see, they definitely are not!
As with all the things we talk about, you must decide what’s best for you and your family. You are the one who has to feel good about the decisions you make for your home.
As always, I’m here to help.
Good info, question. I am noticing that almost if not all cornstarch is now labeled BE. Is there a cornstarch that is not BE?
Hi Carole, There are non-GMO (BE) cornstarches available. I get mine at Kroger, you may find it in your favorite grocery store as well. Here’s the link to it on Amazon so you can see the name and label for convenience or for ordering. Great question! Thanks for letting me hear from you.
I use Arm & Hammer, I suppose because that’s what my Mother had around the house. It’s my perception (or perhaps my prejudice), that the inet is not an entirely viable place to do research so I take what I read on the inet with a grain of salt. That being said, your article inspired me to take a look anyway. From what I’ve read on the inet, Arm & Hammer baking soda comes from trona which is converted to soda ash. A couple articles I read said the soda ash is then put in water and carbon dioxide bubbled through it to create sodium bicarbonate (i.e., baking soda). Seems harmless enough.
From what I’ve just been reading, nahcolite (sodium bicarbonate as it occurs ‘naturally’) has resulted from trona being exposed to carbon dioxide for a long time possibly along with heat, so the process sounds like the ‘trona folks’ just speeded up what occurs ‘naturally’. (Note: I put ‘naturally’ in single quotes because I read somewhere that Congress decided what natural means (a dictionary wasn’t good enough) possibly so corporations can claim their product is ‘natural’ according to law if not according to the dictionary. I don’t trust Congress so I trust no product that says it’s natural.)
However, one article I found suggested that ammonia is also part of this process to convert trona into nahcolite and the ammonia acts as a catalyst (i.e., “a substance that enables a chemical reaction to proceed at a usually faster rate or under different conditions (as at a lower temperature) than otherwise possible”–per Merriam-Webster). This makes sense to me as catalysts are often used in chemical processes. A byproduct (apart from the sodium bicarbonate) is produced but is separated out from the desired product as is the catalyst (at least according to Chemistry 101) which catalyst can then be re-used.
As for nahcolite, it is apparently mined by pumping heated, filtered water underground into where the nahcolite is where it dissolves the nahcolite (probably with a few impurities). The resulting solution is returned to the surface and the nahcolite extracted from the water. One article I read suggested that some baking sodas contain aluminum but the general consensus was that most do not and the package labeling should indicate this information. Another article suggested that Bob’s Red Mill has a notice that their product may contain trace amounts of aluminum due to their mining process (i.e., the heated water may capture some aluminum (those impurities I suggested) as well as the nahcolite).
So much for inet research; interesting as far as it goes. After all that, my prejudice remains, I suppose because I’ve been exposed, if you will, to Arm & Hammer baking soda for 70+ years, and still use if for cooking, baking and for heartburn without noticeable, negative side-effects, so I don’t have any concerns using it. That having been said, I also say your valid opinion may vary, and each to their own. Trusting you and yours, and all The Farmer’s Lamp community, are well and in good spirits, I wish you all a great day.
Hi Steve, Thanks for sharing your experience and opinions with us. It means a lot to us that members of TFL Community know our goal is to give information, share our experience and knowledge and then allow you to make your decision for what’s right and best for you and yours. We know there are many ways of doing things, ideas, and opinions and we are happy that you know we don’t have to all think alike or make the same decisions. We’re just here to help in any way we can. You’re a valuable part of TFL Community and I love that you know you can “agree to disagree” with us and still be friends! Thanks again for demonstrating why TFL Community is a safe and helpful place to be!
Thank you for posting this comment. In reading this article, I had the same questions. As a relatively new mom, I want to be making the best choices for my family, but it is very difficult to sift through all of the information avaliable about all of the products we use and food we consume. (All of which I’m sure have been shown to increase risk of getting cancer or are toxic if not from the “right” source. At leastthat’s the way it feels.) It is extremely overwhelming to have all of the info avaliable, and then find resources that question how it was done in my past (my mother and grandmother). There is a lot of fear and guilt when looking into things like this because it is hard to know what is really true and a big deal and what maybe isn’t such a big deal. So, all of that to say, Thank you! for easing the fear and guilt just a little.
Heather, I remember all of those overwhelming feelings as a new mother, even though my baby is now 35 and living in Austrailia! I will share a piece of advice with you I received after the birth of my second child that has never left me. Here’s the jest: We, each of us, can only do the best we can at the time we have to make a decision or take an action. We can never know everything or the effects of our decisions. We can only do the best we can with the information, knowledge, resources, and energy we have and leave the future in the hands of the only one who is already there, God. Don’t pressure yourself to be perfect, no one ever gets there. Embrace every moment with your child, treasure each and every day with love and prayer and enjoy your journey. Ultimately, we only share our experience, our knowledge and beliefs here on TFL and leave the rest to each member of our community to decide what’s right for them since your journey is uniquely yours. We’re here to help in any way we can. If we don’t know the answer, we’ll find it together.
When you say, “Why go through all that trouble to chemically create baking soda when it can be mined straight from the earth in its natural form?” it’s pretty clear that the answer is why ignore this source that can be minimally processed to get the same product.
Further down you say, “However, chemically created baking soda brings risk simply because of the way it’s created.” That’s a pretty big assumption, with no backing evidence provided.
You do a disservice to the public by making these unsubstantiated claims.
I hope – and urge – you to re-think your approach
Thank you for sharing your opinion. At The Farmer’s Lamp, we share information and encourage our readers to make their own decisions which is what we did in this article. We appreciate that you have a different point of view from us, but we stand by our beliefs about natural, non-chemical foods and living.
Very informative; answered all my questions. I have heard that the baking soda in the orange box is toxic, thus my online research where I found you and your website. Thank you.
Hi Dawn, I’m so gland you found the information you were looking for. Thank you for sharing it with me!
I too would like more documentation. The chemical process of producing baking soda may not necessarily be less healthful than the nahcolite mined from old lake beds. Arm & Hammer would be consistently pure, and you know exactly what you’re getting. Natural deposits may not be pure, but contain other minerals which may be toxic (such as arsenic). Of course, they must test their product for purity and safety. The processing of salt mined from a dry lake is something I’ve observed. I’m assuming it may be a similar process in the case of nahcolite, thus they would also first wash the mined material, and then dry the mineral in a kiln. The kiln can burn off impurities. I have doubts about the chemically produced baking soda being at all toxic. But would like to learn more.
Hi Ann, There is a plethora of studies, informative articles, and other research available online. As I always say, and said in the article, we encourage you to do the research and make the best decison you can for your family. This article is based on my own personal experience and research, you have to do what you feel best. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.