Is Charcoal pizza dough trending?

For years the public has been lectured on the importance of eating lots of fruit and vegetables, ditching sugar and reducing fat, but at last there is something to celebrate, as the latest food health trend involves pizza! There is a slight catch of course – as the carb-laden treat in question is made with charcoal it’s rather black.  The best thing to do is to go and have a meal at a local eatery like one of the Italian restaurants in Dublin which can be found at sites like forno500.ie and try one of their pizzas to see how a traditional wood oven pizza is cooked. They will also tell you if charcoal bases are any good.

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Despite being a colour generally associated with uneatable fodder, charcoal pizza dough is being touted as a potential superfood, offering numerous benefits quite surprising in a dish long associated with diet breaks and couch potatoes. But is it all too good to be true?

The health claims

Converts will bore you for hours about the amazing benefits of charcoal infused foodstuffs, which include killing hangovers, detoxing your system, reducing stomach bloating and, surprisingly, whitening teeth. In a nutshell, the benefits are said to be related to the highly alkaline nature of charcoal, which has been ‘activated’ in a process which involves heating it with a gas to create a more porous surface, which in turn soaks up any number of nasty toxins you let it loose on.

Mad for charcoal

Cafes and restaurants have not been slow in exploiting this new craze, offering everything from charcoal lattes and ice creams to sandwiches, biscuits and noodles, but it’s the black based pizza that is grabbing the most attention. Budding entrepreneurs may do well to snag a couple of pizza ovens and cash in on the craze. So long as the toppings are suitable matches it could be a pretty lucrative investment.

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The view from the experts’ seat

It’s possible that the notion of charcoal’s superpowers originates in its established use in treating specific medical issues which include flatulence and poisoning, but in those cases, charcoal is administered in doses higher than would be found in pizza dough, and crucially, under medical supervision. Many experts are keen to point out that this fashion of using charcoal as a rescue and health remedy could actually cause harm rather than good –

Whether or not charcoal based pizza offers any tangible health benefit, one thing is for sure, it will take some serious evidence to snatch this opportunity to indulge without conscience from the hands of the British public.

Author: Kei Taylor

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