--- title: The Link Between Flour And Asthma description: Bakers, beware: flour is a primary cause of job-related asthma in France, finds new research. Researchers analyzed 330 cases of occupational asthma, with data provided... canonical: https://time.com/3274244/flour-can-cause-asthma/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-08T10:00:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:02:05.697Z article:section: Health og:title: Flour Is Leading Cause of Job-Related Asthma in France og:description: Bakers, beware: flour causes more asthma than ammonium, study says og:url: https://time.com/3274244/flour-can-cause-asthma/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e42a2fd3d95d57f/6986a232e8524b891b60491f/475143079-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5124 og:image:height: 2882 og:image:alt: 475143079 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Flour Is Leading Cause of Job-Related Asthma in France twitter:description: Bakers, beware: flour causes more asthma than ammonium, study says twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e42a2fd3d95d57f/6986a232e8524b891b60491f/475143079-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Flour Is the Main Cause of Work-Related Asthma in France > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 8, 2014 10:00 AM UTC  Pizza dough Pizza dough Manuel Sulzer—Getty Images/Cultura RF by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 8, 2014 10:00 AM UTC Bakers, beware: flour is a primary cause of job-related asthma in France, finds new research. Researchers analyzed 330 cases of occupational asthma, with data provided by a network of respiratory doctors, over three years. Their findings, which were presented at the European Respiratory Society’s International Congress, showed that flour was the main cause and the culprit in 20% of the cases. The next biggest asthma-inducer at the workplace were the ammonium compounds found in cleaning products, blamed in 15% of cases. It’s not a new phenomenon and even has a name: “[baker’s asthma](http://oem.bmj.com/content/59/7/498.full).” Flour may irritate the respiratory system, and some of the dust and enzymes in flour can cause allergy-related symptoms, researchers think. The data also shows that people working in food manufacturing were at a greater risk for asthma than people working in agriculture, and women were more likely to suffer from job-related asthma compared to men. 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