French Bakery Launches Black Baguette Made with Charcoal

A French bakery in Normandy started incorporating active charcoal into their bread because of its traditional use to treat digestive problems, as a natural detoxifier.

Active charcoal is a form of carbon which has been treated to have a larger surface area and lots of small pores, making it absorbent and reactive, and it has a long history of medicinal use.

The unusual black baguette is on sale at the Rose Boulangerie in Vernon, northern France, and apart from the charcoal, it is made following a traditional recipe, according to www.thelocal.fr, that includes an additive-free flour, and no improvers.

“Customers should be able to buy a baguette without any additives or improvers at their local boulangerie,” bakery Benjamin Rose told FranceInfo, explaining his motivation for making the dark-hued baguette.