New Real Bread Campaign says: Use your loaf! Buy Real Bread

A coalition of consumers, bakers and campaigners is joining together to launch the Real Bread Campaign and challenge the giant industrial baking companies that dominate the modern bread market.

Andrew Whitley, founder of the Village Bakery and author of the book 'Bread Matters', said: "Real Bread is better for you, better for your community and better for our planet."

He continued: "Many people I speak to are horrified when they find out what is actually in their daily bread. Bread should be the staff of life, but the label on the average loaf reads more like the recipe for a scientific experiment than the ingredients of a staple food."

He finished: "Modern milling takes so much of the goodness out of the wheat that chalk, iron and B vitamins have to be added to most flour, by law. Even then, many vital elements are still missing from refined flour. And it is turned into bread using additives, some of which are not declared on the label, and high levels of yeast to speed up the baking process. It's hardly surprising that some people find this industrially-produced bread hard to digest."

Oliver Rowe, head chef and owner of Konstam spoke at the launch and said: "Real, locally produced Bread cuts out the unnecessary food miles involved in shipping industrial bread to stores around the country. The passion and care shown by smaller, local bakers leads them, in many instances, to use more sympathetic ingredients, both environmentally and nutritionally. Locally produced, real food is a necessary part of a sustainable future.

Laura Tennyson of the East West Bakery said at the launch: "Three companies dominate 80 percent of the bakery market. Local bakeries are struggling to compete against supermarkets and these giants selling industrial bread. It is vital we stand up for local bakeries before it is too late."

Richard Watts, Campaigns Director of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming, who are coordinating the campaign, said: "The Real Bread campaign is for anyone who wants to see a return to good, honestly labelled, food which looks after both you and the environment. Today we are launching a Real Bread finder that will tell people where Real Bread is sold in their area. Over the coming months we plan to increase the amount of Real Bread sold in the UK, to support local bakeries and to expose problems with industrially-produced bread."

For more information please go to our website: www.realbreadcampaign.org

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For further information please contact Richard Watts on 0203 5596 777 or 07710 782719.

Notes to editors:

1. The Real Bread Campaign is being launched on Wednesday, 26 November 2008 at 10:30am at the Celtic Bakers in Wood Green, North London.
2. The initiative for the Real Bread Campaign came from Andrew Whitley and it is being coordinated by Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming. Even before the launch more than 2,000 people have signed up to support the campaign.
3. The three main bread manufacturers in the UK (Allied Bakeries, British Bakeries and Warburtons) account for almost 80% of the industrial plant bread market by value. (source: the Federation of Bakers)
4. Sustain; the Alliance for Better Food and Farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, promote equity and enrich society and culture. www.sustainweb.org
5. The Real Bread campaign has launched a Real Bread finder on our website where people can go to find outlets which sell Real Bread. Go to: www.sustainweb.org/realbread
6. Andrew Whitley's book 'Bread Matters' compares the ingredients of Real Bread and industrial bread:

Real Bread contains:

• Flour
• Water
• Salt
• Yeast
• Plus fruits, nuts and other natural ingredients in speciality breads

Industrial bread can contain:

• Flour
• Water
• Salt
• Yeast
• Fat
• Flour Treatment Agent, such as L-ascorbic acid (E300).
• Bleach (in flour imported from the US)
• Reducing Agent such as L-cysteine hydrochloride (E920).
• Soya Flour
• Emulsifiers, including:
  • Diacetylated tartaric acid
  • Sodium steoryl-2-lactylate (SSL)
  • Glycerol mono-stearate (GMS)
  • Lecithins
• Enzymes, including:
  • Amylase - usually alpha-amylase from cereal, fungal sources
  • Maltogenic amylase - usually from a genetically modified bacterial source. (Bacillus stearothermophilus).
  • Oxidase
  • Protease - usually derived from fungal sources Aspergillus niger and A. oryzae.
  • Peptidase - from fungal sources
  • Lipase
  • Phospholipase
  • Hemicellulase
  • Xylanase
  • Transglutaminase

The 'Bread Matters' book lists the problems associated with these ingredients. Please call us for further details.