The Real Bread Campaign Demands An End To Unlabelled Enzymes In Bread
In an email to a concerned member of the public, Gordon Polson, Director of The Federation of Bakers, has explained his initial failure to respond to a letter from the Real Bread Campaign and the Real Food Festival about unlabelled processing aids* by saying “We did not reply because we could not stop using them which they know.”
Mr. Polson has since written a direct response to the letter. Whilst he points out that “All wrapped bread produced in the UK is clearly labelled and strictly adheres to EU legislation…” and goes on to say that no wrapped bread contains any ingredient of animal or GM origin unless stated on the label, he fails to reply to the question of processing aids.
We are therefore inviting members of the public to sign our petition, demanding that the Big Bakers come clean. This will be launched at the Real Food Festival at Earl’s Court from 8-10 May and online at http://www.realbreadcampaign.org/, from where consumers can also obtain free warning stickers to amend the labels of suspect loaves at home.
The long list of ‘label friendly’ processing aids that can be used in bread manufacture include phospholipase, fungal alpha amylase, l-cysteine, transglutaminase, maltogenic amylase, hemicellulase and xylanase, some of which are known allergens and could be of GM or animal origin. As defined by the Food Labelling Regulations (1996), processing aids are not considered additives or ingredients and as such, their use does not have to be listed on product labels.
The aims of the Real Bread Campaign are to stimulate and promote the production and consumption of bread that is better for our health, our communities and our planet.
6 May 2009
Notes to editors:
*A processing aid ‘…means any substance not consumed as a food by itself, intentionally used in the processing of raw materials, foods or their ingredients, to fulfill a certain technological purpose during treatment or processing, and which may result in the unintentional but technically unavoidable presence of residues of the substance or its derivatives in the final product, provided that these residues do not present any health risk and do not have any technological effect on the finished product.’
The Food Labelling Regulations (1996)
Real Bread is made from flour, water and yeast (naturally occurring or cultured), to which a small amount of salt may be added. Some flatbreads do not even require yeast. Any additional ingredients must be natural, e.g. seeds, nuts and dried fruits. The gold standard is reached by bread made using flour that is not wholly refined and is fermented for at least four hours, with no part baking or freezing of the dough. The Real Bread Campaign also celebrates the use of local, organic and stoneground flours. The production of Real Bread does not involve the use of artificial additives, processing aids or improvers.
The Federation of Bakers consists of Premier Foods (Hovis), Allied Bakeries, Warburtons, Frank Roberts & Sons, Fine Lady Bakeries, Delifrance (UK), WD Irwin & Sons and William Jackson & Son. Together they account for around 80% of UK bread production.
Published Wednesday 6 May 2009
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.
