Wholemeal law update

Replying to the Real Bread Campaign on 17 July 2025, a trading standards officer at London Borough of Tower Hamlets advised that Defra’s Food Compositional Standards Team had ‘noted there are some examples [highlighted by the Campaign’s research] which in their view seem to infringe requirements and could warrant further investigation / action.’

The officer also reported that Defra appreciated  ‘that it should not fall solely to our authority to investigate all the cases brought forward and these would normally be referred by us to the primary authority.’  The officer continued that ‘the Food Standards and Information Focus Group, which consists of regional Trading Standards Officers, has discussed this too in the past.’

Enforcing the law

The officer concluded that Defra had ‘agreed to raise this with colleagues in the Food Standards Agency, as they play a role in co-ordinating regional enforcement and can help ensure primary authorities take a consistent approach throughout the UK. They will let me know what the outcome of this is and if it might be sensible to organise a meeting with us to discuss approaches going forward.  I will keep you posted on progress.’

Real Bread Campaign coordinator Chris Young said: ‘The law is clear that the word wholemeal can only be used in the name of a product if all of the wheat flour used in it is wholemeal. We have spent years highlighting apparent breaches of this law, which we really should not have had to do.’ 

He went on to say: ‘We welcome the news that, having heeded our proposal to introduce a legal definition of wholemeal and issue guidance on the word’s use, Defra is now apparently working to join the dots with the Food Standards agency and trading standards service.’

Background

On 23 April 2025, Defra published new, official guidance to The Bread and Flour Regulations. In light of this, we wrote to big brands and the UK’s biggest supermarket chains that we found using the word ‘wholemeal’ in the name of products in which non-wholemeal wheat flour was used as an ingredient.

On 5 June 2025, the Campaign sent a complaint, based on the results of our investigation, to the trading standards department of London Borough of Tower Hamlets, the local authority where Sustain’s office is located.

Related to wholemeal is the term wholegrain, which (despite the Campaign's ongoing efforts) remains undefined and unregulated.

(Don't get us started on to the pictured Tesco's H.W. Nevill brand...)

See also

• Wholemeal bread info page
• 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)
• More wholemeal news, articles and recipes