No date for updated and improved bread standards

Defra still unwilling or unable to say when anything will change.

An industrial dough product. Credit: Canva

As the Real Bread Campaign has noted before, the public consultation on proposals to amend The Regulations ended on 23 November 2022, with the Government originally committing to publish its response within 12 weeks – ie by mid-February 2023.

Answering the Campaign's latest request for a new ETA, on 8 December 2023, Mark Spencer, the Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries replied: “Defra is unable to confirm a date for the planned legislative changes to the Bread and Flour Regulations. We continue to work with the devolved administrations to align the timing of legislative changes across the UK as far as is possible.”

Real Bread Campaign coordinator Chris Young said:

“Despite bread, and industrial dough products marketed as bread, being a dietary staple, for some reason it keeps slipping down – or off – Defra’s menu. We’re in the process of writing a Real Bread Manifesto, urging whoever forms the next Government to give improving bread standards greater priority.”

Wholegrain

Despite governmental guidance that people should eat more wholegrain foods, there is no legal definition of the word or regulation of its use. The Real Bread Campaign has been lobbying for both since 2013.

In his letter, Mr. Spencer wrote: “Regarding the consideration of a definition for wholegrain, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition will consider the timing of this work at the next scheduled horizon scan meeting in June 2024.” This means that it will be a further six months before the possibility of starting a process to set a legal definition is even considered.

Wholemeal

The Real Bread Campaign has repeatedly insisted that (for the sake of bakers, retailers, shoppers and consumer protection bodies) clarity is needed on the use of the regulated term wholemeal.

Mr. Spencer’s response to the Campaign’s latest questions on this was: “Defra will be engaging with enforcement authorities as we develop the updated guidance on the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998. We hope this will help facilitate a consistent understanding around requirements across industry and enforcement. We want to ensure the final guidance captures the intent of regulations and does not have any adverse impact on consumer choice while still ensuring accurate consumer information. We will need to discuss our approach with our devolved colleagues before we look to circulate anything on this more widely to interested parties for their consideration.”

Full ingredient labelling

For 15 years, a cornerstone of the Real Bread Campaign’s Honest Crust Act proposals has been full ingredient listing for all baked products. In the latest rejection of introducing mandatory ingredient listing at point of sale for baked products sold unwrapped, and of naming so-called processing aids on any ingredient list, Mr. Spencer wrote:

“The UK has high standards on the information provided on food labels. Existing food labelling rules, including ingredient listing, ensure that food is produced safely and labelled effectively. This enables consumers to make informed choices on the food they buy and consume. The legislation in this area aims to balance multiple factors including: safety, consumer choice, access to food information, burdens on businesses and associated costs to consumers, food chain resilience and the avoidance of waste. These were all considered in setting rules for loose and ‘pre-packed for direct sale’ foods, as well as for processing aids.”

Other marketing claims

In a previous letter, Mr. Spencer wrote: “Guidance on terms such as fresh, pure and natural also deals with general principles and as such will be relevant to other unregulated terms commonly used to describe foods. We will engage with stakeholders on updates to this guidance when we have the opportunity to do so bearing in mind competing priorities.”

In his latest letter, Mr. Spencer's reply to the Campaign’s subsequent questions about when and how this would take place, and how people would be able to have an input in the process, was: “There is no timetable or set format for the review of guidance on the use of marketing terms such as fresh, pure and natural at this point.”

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Published Tuesday 12 December 2023

Real Bread Campaign: The Real Bread Campaign finds and shares ways to make bread better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet. Whether your interest is local food, community-focussed small enterprises, honest labelling, therapeutic baking, or simply tasty toast, everyone is invited to become a Campaign supporter.

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