What's hiding behind the word wholemeal?

Most people in the UK eat far less than the recommended 30g of fibre a day. This is one of the reasons that the Real Bread Campaign encourages people to eat more wholemeal Real Bread.

When you see the word wholemeal, is the product as wholesome as you think it is, though?

What is wholemeal bread?

Wholemeal Real Bread can be made from just wholemeal flour, water and salt. Optional extras include baker's yeast, nuts, seeds, some sort of fat or oil etc. 

Section 6 of The Bread and Flour Regulations (1998) requires that: 'There shall not be used in the labelling or advertising of bread, as part of the name of the bread, whether or not qualified by other words […] the word 'wholemeal' unless all the flour used as an ingredient in the preparation of the bread is wholemeal.’

As the result of Real Bread Campaign’s lobbying, in November 2024 the UK government at last introduced a legal definition of wholemeal flour. It ‘means the flour consisting of the whole of the product obtained from the milling or grinding of cleaned cereals.’ 

Always read the label!

Rather than assume a factory loaf only contains a handful of natural and minimally-processed ingredients, please always read the label. You'll usually find a long list of unnecessary extras, such as synthetic emulsifiers, artificial preservatives, soya flour and so on (see examples). Some even contain white / non-wholemeal flour (a clue is the presence of 'fortificants') despite the ‘all flour must be wholemeal’ legal requirement.

If you're avoiding E280 / propionic acid, keep an eye out for 'fermented wheat flour'. It's what industrial dough fabricators refer to as a 'clean label' addition. In some cases, it is a 'label friendly solution' to adding propionic acid without having to declare it by name or its E number. That's because labelling law doesn't classify 'fermented wheat flour' as a preservative or any other category of additive...even if it contains antimicrobial levels of propionic acid and is added to extend shelf life by inhibiting mould growth, so acting as a preservative...

We’re not saying any of this will kill you stone dead on the spot, but there are growing questions and concerns around such ultra-processed foods (UPFs).

What can we all do?

Seize the dough! You can find FREE recipes for wholemeal, and other Real Bread, on our website. 

Vote with your wallet (or contactless thingy). If you want genuine wholemeal bread with nothing else added, check out the Real Bread Map and read details of The Real Bread Loaf Mark scheme. You can then ask a bakery you find if they make wholemeal bread.

When you see a product with unnecessary extras, you can write to the company to tell them it’s the reason you’re not buying it.

If the place you buy your bread from doesn’t display ingredients lists, ask them to start. One of our Honest Crust Act proposals is mandatory full ingredients listing for all loaves etc. In the meantime, we urge all bakers / retailers to display them voluntarily when not legally required to do so.

Call for better bread in schools. A public consultation on the government's proposed new School Food Standards for England is open until 12 June 2026. The standards guiding caterers to serve more wholemeal bread is something we will propose - and so can you. 

Shop a shyster. If the ingredients list of a product with ‘wholemeal’ in its name includes non-wholemeal flour ** you can complain to the company. If they decline to rectify the situation, you might then want to submit a trading standards complaint, pointing them to section 6 of The Bread and Flour Regulations.

You can try contacting your local authority’s trading standards department but many are underfunded and overstretched, so no longer accept complaints direct from taxpayers. Instead, they might direct you to Citizens Advice, which can triage your complaint and decide whether it merits being passed on.

Support us. The main ways you can help the charity Sustain to continue this (and the rest of our grain, flour and bread-related) work are by joining the Real Bread Campaign and / or making a doughnation.

*Though not everyone - there are people with health conditions that are triggered or exacerbated by fibre and FODMAPs. Others reasons for championing wholemeal Real Bread include the environmental case for eating all of the grain that farmers (and nature) have invested in growing for us.

**Non-wholemeal flour is usually listed as ‘wheat flour’, after which calcium, iron, thiamin, niacin and folic acid will be listed, typically in brackets. 

See also

• Wholemeal law update (2025)
• New bread and flour guidance: gains and omissions
• Wholemeal: better bred bread
• Wholemeal sourdough? Oca-doh!
• Wholemeal law breakers? (2023)
• 100% wholemeal? Update (2018)
• Wholegrain and wholemeal: a decade demanding definition (2023)
• A wholegrain of truth? Industrial loaf names, claims and contents (2013)

Example products

Warburtons Medium Wholemeal
Wholemeal Wheat Flour, Water, Yeast, Vegetable Oils (Rapeseed and Palm), Salt, Wheat Gluten, Emulsifiers: E481, E471, E472e, Soya Flour, Preservative: Calcium Propionate, Flour Treatment Agent: Ascorbic Acid E300

Hovis Medium Sliced Wholemeal
Wholemeal Flour (Wheat), Water, Wheat Protein, Yeast, Salt, Soya Flour, Preservative: E282, Caramelised Sugar, Emulsifier: E472e, Flour Treatment Agent: Ascorbic Acid, Wheat Flour (with added Calcium, Folic Acid, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin)

Kingsmill Tasty Medium Wholemeal
Wholemeal Wheat Flour, Water, Kibbled Malted Wheat (3.5%), Wheat Protein, Sugar, Yeast, Salt, Malted Barley Flour, Vegetable Oils (Rapeseed, Palm), Vinegar, Emulsifier: E472e, Sustainable Soya Flour, Preservative: Calcium Propionate, Flour Treatment Agent: Ascorbic Acid E300

Allinson's The Champion Medium Sliced Wholemeal
Wholemeal Wheat Flour, Water, Wheat Protein, Yeast, Fermented Wheat Flour, Salt, Oat Bran, Malted Barley Flour, Vinegar, Molasses Sugar, Soya Flour, Vegetable Oils (Rapeseed, Palm), Flour Treatment Agent: Ascorbic Acid, E300 

Tesco Wholemeal Medium Sliced
Wholemeal Wheat Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt, Barley Malt Flour, Sugar, Emulsifiers (Mono- and Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids, Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids), Spirit Vinegar, Preservative (Calcium Propionate), Rapeseed Oil, Wheat Gluten, Flour Treatment Agent (Ascorbic Acid).

Sainsbury's Medium Sliced Wholemeal
Wholemeal Wheat Flour, Water, Wheat Gluten, Yeast, Rapeseed Oil, Salt, Spirit Vinegar, Soya Flour, Preservative: Calcium Propionate; Caramelised Sugar, Emulsifier: Mono- and Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids; Palm Fat, Flour Treatment Agent: Ascorbic Acid E300; Palm Oil.

ASDA The Bakery Wholemeal Medium Sliced
Wholemeal Wheat Flour, Water, Wheat Protein, Yeast, Wheat Bran, Salt, Vegetable Oils and Fat [Rapeseed Oil, Palm Fat, Palm Oil], Malted Barley Flour, Sugar, Spirit Vinegar, Soya Flour, Preservative (Calcium Propionate), Emulsifier (Mono- and Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids), Flour Treatment Agent (Ascorbic Acid, E300)

Morrisons Wholemeal Medium Sliced
Wholemeal Wheat Flour, Water, Wheat Gluten, Yeast, Soya Flour, Salt, Sugar, Emulsifiers (Mono- and Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids, Sodium Stearoyl-2-lactylate), Preservative (Calcium Propionate), Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium, Folic Acid, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Caramelised Sugar, Flour Treatment Agent (Ascorbic Acid, E300)

Details accessed from supermarket websites on 29 April 2026. Aldi and Lidl advertise products on their sites but don't publish ingredients lists.