Industrial dough fabricators: update

As the flipside to our year-round work championing Real Bread and the people who make it, we also challenge obstacles to their rise.

Part of this involves scrutinising the products, labelling and marketing of supermarkets and other industrial dough fabricators.

For the background and further updates on all of the below see:

• Half and half updates
• Other white flour in wholemeal products updates
• Asda 'better than' ad campaign updates
• Lidl 'rye sourdough' updates
• Hovis bloomer ad campaign updates

28 November 2023

We sent the emails requesting updates on the following cases:

• Peterborough City Council re. Aldi (white flour in wholemeal products)
• West Yorkshire Joint Services re. Asda (white flour in wholemeal products)
• Manchester City Council re. The Cooperative (white flour in wholemeal products)
• Buckinghamshire & Surrey Trading Standards re. Hovis and Waitrose (white flour in wholemeal products)
• Hull City Council re. Jacksons (white flour in wholemeal products)
• London Borough of Bexley re. Lidl (56% wheat flour yested loaf marketed as sourdough rye)
• Birmingham City Council re. Marks and Spencer (white flour in wholemeal products) 
• London Borough of Enfield re. Warburtons (white flour in wholemeal products) 
• Lidl (white flour in wholemeal products)

30 October 2023

Sainsbury's Both in One (now called Both in One Bread) has been relabelled. Rather than ‘a blend of white and wholemeal flour’, the front of pack now says ‘a blend of white and whole flour’, though the website has not yet been updated.

10 October 2023

Buckinghamshire & Surrey Trading Standards replied: "The position at the moment is that before we decide what advice is appropriate or possible action that may be taken we need to review the different interpretations of the legislation. Once we have done that we will progress the issue as we decide appropriately, informed by a full view of the issues,  with the businesses we have had contact with. We will also be liaising with colleagues in other authorities to ensure our position is not out of alignment with theirs."

5 October 2023

Replying to an email from Buckinghamshire & Surrey Trading Standards (see below) the Real Bread Campaign coordinator wrote:

Here’s a summary of my understanding of the current situation:

• Rule 6 of The Bread and Flour Regulations (1998) clearly states that, ‘whether or not qualified by other words’, the word wholemeal can only be used in the name and advertising of a product if all of the wheat flour is wholemeal.
• This means that if a product is made with any white / non-wholemeal wheat flour, the only place the word wholemeal can legally appear is on the ingredients list.
• The Real Bread Campaign found some of the UK’s largest industrial loaf manufacturers and retailers using the word wholemeal to name and market products that are made using some white / non-wholemeal flour - in a number of cases this amount is as much as 50%.* We believe these to be clear breaches of rule 6.
• Starting in July 2022, the Real Bread Campaign began writing to each of the large companies we had found doing this. After each responded, confirming they were doing so, we asked them to either remove the word wholemeal from their product names and marketing, or remove the non-wholemeal flour from the products.
• With the exception of Iceland, which ceased production of the product, all of the companies declined.
• The Real Bread Campaign has highlighted the issue to the Secretary of State, Minister of State and other Defra officials, urging them to review rule 6 of the Regulations. All have declined to do so, either as part of the long-promised review of The Bread and Flour Regulations as a whole, or otherwise.
• The Real Bread Campaign has raised its concerns with the trading standards (in some cases environmental health) department/officer at the local authority with the Primary Authority relationship with each company. 
• Oxfordshire County Council told us they had advised the Sainsbury's how to comply with the legislation by relabelling and / or reformulation.
• One or more of the other trading standards officers have asked Defra for guidance / clarification on rule 6. Defra declined to provide this.

Does this match your reading of the situation? 

Am I also correct in understanding that you are, effectively, waiting to hear from Waitrose how they would like to be policed on the issue, based on what their lawyers say and some sort of voluntary code of practice / guidance their trade association(s) is/are drawing up?

In lieu of any change of law or official governmental guidance, surely the most appropriate course of action to be taken by trading standards officers at this point is that taken by Oxfordshire County Council: advising companies of the requirement to adhere to the law as it stands. To us, it seems the three options for a company to do this are either: removing the word wholemeal from the product names and marketing; removing all non-wholemeal flour from the products; or removing the products from sale altogether.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on all of this.

* Aldi, Asda, The Co-operative, Hovis, Iceland, Jacksons, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Warburton's."

23 October 2023

We published a statement sent by Defra to trading standards officers, which confirms the practice of using the word wholemeal in the name or marketing of a product made using white flour breaches the Bread and Flour Regulations.

2 October 2023

Current cases, some of which we have been pursuing since summer 2022, include:

Aldi

• Issue: Products made using white flour (including one that is 50% white flour) being marketed with the word wholemeal
• 2 October 2023: We asked the company’s Primary Authority (Peterborough City Council) for an update on their investigation into our complaint.

Asda

• Issue 1: Product made using white flour being marketed with the word wholemeal
• 2 October 2023: We asked the company’s Primary Authority (West Yorkshire Joint Services) for an update on their investigation into our complaint.

• Issue 2: An advertising campaign that includes elements we believe are misleading and/or unsubstantiated.
• 26 September 2023: Having received a response from the company that we found unsatisfactory, we submitted a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority.

The Co-operative

• Issue: Product made using white flour being marketed with the word wholemeal
• 2 October 2023: We asked the company’s Primary Authority (Manchester City Council) for an update on their investigation into our complaint.

Hovis

• Issue 1: Product made using 50% white flour being marketed with the word wholemeal
• 2 October 2023: We asked the company’s Primary Authority (Manchester City Council) for an update on their investigation into our complaint.
   
• Issue 2: An advertising campaign that includes elements we believe are misleading and/or unsubstantiated.
• 3 October 2023: Having received a response from the company that we found unsatisfactory, we are preparing a complaint to submit to the Advertising Standards Authority. 

Jacksons

• Issue 1: Product made using 50% white flour being marketed with the word wholemeal.
• 2 October 2023: We asked the company’s Primary Authority (Hull City Council) for an update on their investigation into our complaint.

Lidl

• Issue 1: Product marketed as ‘sourdough rye crusty bloomer’ is in fact mostly wheat flour and made using baker’s yeast.
• 22 September 2023: We sent our complaint to our local authority to forward on our behalf to the company’s Primary Authority (London Borough of Bexley). This was due to Bexley trading standards stating it was their policy not to accept complaints directly from shoppers or organisations. 
   
• Issue 2: Product made using 50% white flour being marketed with the word wholemeal.
• 20 October 2023: We raised the issue with the company's CEO.

M&S

• Issue: Products made using white flour being marketed with the word wholemeal.
• 2 October 2023: We asked the company’s Primary Authority (Birmingham City Council) for an update on their investigation into our complaint.

Sainsbury’s

• Issue: Products made using white flour (including one that is 50% white flour) being marketed with the word wholemeal
• 23 July 2023: The company’s Primary Authority (Oxfordshire County Council) told us they had advised the company how to comply with the legislation by relabeling and / or reformulation.

Waitrose

• Issue: Products made using white flour (including one that is 50% white flour) being marketed with the word wholemeal

• 4 October 2023: Surrey and Bucks replied: "We are currently reviewing independent legal advice that has been taken by the Primary Authority business regarding the issue

  As it is a sector wide matter we also understand that a position paper is currently being drawn up by industry/trade associations for our information and consideration 

  We are also mindful the government response to the BFR consultation is overdue and anticipate they will cover discussion of statute changes and disposal routes when that is published.

  Therefore we consider it prudent for us to have all this information available before considering any next steps. We will of course update you on further developments"

• 2 October 2023: We asked the company’s Primary Authority (Buckinghamshire & Surrey Trading Standards) for an update on their investigation into our complaint.

Warburtons 

• Issue 1: Product made using 50% white flour being marketed with the word wholemeal.
• 2 October 2023: We asked the local authority handling this case (London Borough of Enfield) for an update on their investigation into our complaint.

See also

Background to these cases and other related articles:

• Real Bread Campaign slams Defra loaf labelling inaction
• Asda sourdough ads: facts or fiction?
• Big Baker says no to sourfaux
• Supermarkets defend use of white flour in wholemeal loaves
• Wholemeal law breakers?
• Sainsbury’s ordered to say adios to white flour in wholemeal tortillas
• Lidl’s sourfaux ‘rye’ bloomer
• New call for wholemeal law clarity
• Hovis ‘wholemeal’ case referred to government
• Iceland drops loaf after Real Bread Campaign complaint
• Wholegrain and wholemeal: a decade demanding definition