Studies on the lipids of flour. II.—chemical and toxicological studies on the lipid of chlorine‐treated cake flour

A study was made of the effect of chlorine treatment on the fatty acid components of cake flour lipid: dichlorostearic acid is demonstrated as a consequential trace constituent. Comprehensive feeding tests with rats, including multi‐generation studies, showed that the lipid from chlorine‐treated flour produced no adverse reaction at ingestion levels normally associated with cake consumption in the human diet. It was not until an exceedingly high intake of chlorinated lipid was fed that any novel effect was observed, when lactation in the female rat and coat texture in the male rat appeared to be affected. Comparison of the body fat from rats on different diets showed some change in its unsaturated fatty acid content at high intake levels of chlorinated lipid. These effects were below the limit of detection at lipid intake levels derived from chlorinated cake flours in amounts equivalent to those commonly ingested in the human daily diet.