Supermarket sourfaux in the news
The scourge of sourfaux is being reported widely as the result of an investigation carried out by Which? in association with the Real Bread Campaign.
- ‘Sourdough or sourfaux? Does it go against the grain if your bread is fake?’ BBC News
- ‘Great British Fake Off: most sourdough in supermarkets is not authentic’ The Sunday Telegraph
- ‘75% of supermarket sourdough breads don't follow authentic recipe’ The Independent
- ‘Baking bad: store loaves fail to pass the sourdough test’ The Times
- 'Sham sourdough: 4 in 5 loaves have wrong ingredients' Sky News
In July 2018, consumer association Which? looked at 19 loaves and asked the Real Bread Campaign to comment on which were what it considered to be genuine sourdough, and which were what it calls sourfaux.
Based on ingredients lists published online and supplied to the Real Bread Campaign by Which?, only four of the 19 loaves were made without any artificial additives or added baker’s yeast. Twelve were what the Campaign calls sourfaux, with two supermarkets not publishing ingredients lists for the remaining two.
The loaves
As reported by Which? in October 2018, the Real Bread Campaign’s opinion on the 19 loaves was:
Sourdough
- Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference San Francisco Style Sourdough
- The Celtic Bakers Organic White Sourdough
- Waitrose 1 White Sourdough
- Waitrose 1 Wheat and Rye Sourdough
Sourfaux
- Gail's San Francisco Style Sourdough
- Gail's White Sourdough Bread
- Gradz Bakery Oats and Flax Sourdough Bread
- Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Sourdough
- Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Rye and Sourdough
- Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Medium Sliced White Sourdough
- Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Multiseed Sourdough
- Tesco Sourdough bloomer
- The Polish Bakery Highlander Premium Sourdough
- The Polish Bakery Traditional Polish Half Wheat Half Rye Sourdough Bread
- The Rustik Bakery 5 Seed Sourdough Bread
- The Rustik Bakery White Sourdough Bread
Ingredients list not published
- Asda Baker’s Selection Sourdough Brown Boule
- Morrisons The Best Brown Sourdough
Other loaves marketed as ‘sourdough’ not looked at by Which? are available from supermarkets, some of which may be made without artificial additives or added baker's yeast. Are Supermarket Bloomers (still) Pants?, the Real Bread Campaign’s more detailed report on in-store bakery and other own-brand loaves sold by UK multiple retailers, is published later this month.
The Real Bread Campaign continues to campaign for an Honest Crust Act that would, amongst other things, make mandatory full ingredients listing (including any and all additives used) for all loaves, and a legal definition of the word sourdough.
The Real Bread Campaign encourages people to buy genuine sourdough from small, independent Real Bread bakeries that help to support more jobs per loaf and to keep our high streets and local economies alive.
Updates
1 November 2023: GAIL’s contacted us to say the company subsequently removed E300 from the two products that Which? looked at and, as at November 2023, they were what the Campaign calls genuine sourdough.
Published Tuesday 2 October 2018
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