Unless nowt's been taken out, something's been added in.. Credit: Chris Young / www.realbreadcampaign.org CC-BY-SA-4.0
Flour ‘fortification’ exemptions introduced
‘Other’ wheats and small mills offer additive-free flour choices.
Today, the Department of Health and Social Care (DoHSC) and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) announced publication of the delayed amendments to The Bread and Flour Regulations (1998).
They include mandatory flour ‘fortification’ exemptions for:
- small mills that produce less than 500 tonnes of flour a year.
- flour milled from wheats other than Triticum aestivum (aka ‘common’ or ‘bread’ wheat), such as spelt, durum, einkorn and emmer.
The biggest change is that all other non-wholemeal wheat flour sold in the UK will have to have added folic acid, in addition to the current mandatory ‘token nutrients’: calcium carbonate (chalk), iron, thiamin (vitamin B1) and nicotinic acid or nicotinamide.
Millers and retailers have until the end of 2026 to comply. The Real Bread Campaign responded to the planned changes when they were announced in January 2024.
While welcoming the two very small exemptions, the Campaign sees the review of the Regulations as a missed opportunity to introduce an Honest Crust Act of updated and improved composition, labelling and marketing standards.
Wholemeal guidance when?
In January 2024, Defra advised that use of the word wholemeal will be included in the new guidance. In light of this, trading standards officers investigating more than ten cases of the word wholemeal to market products made using non-wholemeal flour (some of which date back to summer 2022) put them on hold pending this promised advice.
In October 2024, Defra advised: 'we will be continuing discussions on implementation and accompanying guidance for new requirements with relevant stakeholders. We will provide an update again when the final legislation is published.'
See also
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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