Factual claim coming for Kingsmill 50/50?

In April 2025, the Real Bread Campaign challenged ABF Grain Products on its use of a USDA-based health claim to market Kingsmill 50/50 in the UK.

On 19 January 2026, a trading standards officer involved in the case advised the Campaign that the company is: ‘considering phasing out the claim going forward and looking to replace it with a factual claim instead.’  The officer went on to confirm that: ‘this is in line with advice provided by [the company’s] Primary Authority.’ The estimated timeline for the change was ‘around June 2026.’

Real Bread Campaign co-ordinator Chris Young, who submitted the complaint, said: ‘This is positive news, though it’s frustrating how long it’s taking to make progress. It’s now more than seven months since ABF assured the Advertising Standards Authority that the company would stop using the claim in its advertising and it looks like it could be six months more before it's dropped from the rest of its marketing.’ 

Young added: ‘The fact that the company is still merely “considering” dropping the claim altogether, and issued new packaging with it on since the case began, is an indication of how successive governments have defunded and disempowered the trading standards service.’

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The issue

ABF continues to profit from the health halo of wholegrain, claiming that Kingsmill 50 / 50 has ‘50% of your daily whole grain in 2 slices’. The company bases this on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025. That guidance was written specifically for people living in the USA and has no standing in the UK.

There is no recommended daily intake of ‘wholegrain’ in the UK, where the word has no legal definition and does not appear on the register of permitted nutrition and health nutrition claims. Relevant official guidance in the UK is that most adults should consume 30g of fibre a day. According to the company, a medium slice of Kingsmill 50/50 contains 1.9g of fibre, meaning that two slices contribute less than 13% of the recommended daily amount.

In late 2025, Kingsmill 50/50 was being sold in new seasonal packaging that featured the US-based claim.

Taking action

As part of its Honest Crust Act proposals, the Real Bread Campaign lobbies for a legal definition of wholegrain. The organisation also encourages people to choose wholemeal (which is defined in UK law) and other higher fibre bread. 

The Campaign is currently pursuing trading standards complaints about most of the UK's largest supermarket chains and major industrial loaf brands on a range of issues, and chasing answers from Kingsmill amounts the 16 companies in its ‘fermented wheat flour’ investigation.

JOIN the Campaign
As you can see, cases like this can be a long old slog. To help ensure that the charity Sustain can continue running the Real Bread Campaign to champion the good and challenge things that could be done better, please join today.