Bread and Bakery | Artisan Food Law

Sourdough hijacking by loaf fabricators

The Association of Bakery Ingredient Manufacturers, Federation of Bakers, Craft Bakers Association, The British Sandwich and Food To Go Association and Pizza, Pasta and Italian Food Association have come together and presented Defra with a proposed ‘UK Baking Industry Code of Practice for the Labelling of Sourdough Bread and Rolls’. In doing so they clearly seek to exploit the belief that “it is not at all certain that the majority of the bread-buying public are aware what ‘sourdough’ is, how it is produced, or what its typical characteristics should be.” The motivation comes from a recognition that a revival in the market for sourdough bakery products shows little sign of abating.

The purported aim of the Code is to “clarify the term and prevent misinformation when it is applied to products in the UK bakery market”. The reality, however, is quite different and represents a sourfaux or pseudough charter.

Bits of bakery law

Wood fired oven - in a smoke control area?

Some of you may be thinking that with Brexit looming what’s the point of a piece on bakery law? Well, it isn’t going to happen anytime soon, may take a decade or more and even then little may change. So, food law has been around a while, it all started with bread - the Assize of Bread and Ale 1266 to be precise - and here we cover some present day real bread law highlights.

Folic acid in our flour – food sense or counsel of despair?

Flour - maybe not so pure as you might think ...

The Scottish Government is calling for UK flour to be fortified with synthetic folic acid in order to reduce birth defects, especially neural tube conditions such as spina bifida. The UK government is still considering its position after positive recommendations from its advisors, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). No-one can argue against the desirability of improving the diet and health of women before and during pregnancy, nor dismiss the Scottish government’s concern that low folate status affects deprived communities most severely. Putting synthetic folic acid in flour is an attractively simple solution, but it would be a big mistake. Andrew Whitley of Bread Matters explains why the fortification of flour with folic acid would be a big mistake.

And now … Real Sourdough!

Sourdough is a spontaneous fermentation of flour and water in which naturally-occurring yeasts and beneficial lactic acid bacteria work in symbiosis to aerate and flavour bread, make nutrients more bio-available and improve digestibility. After a gap of at least two centuries, sourdough bread is making a comeback in Britain. But bread is notorious for not always being quite what it seems. In an echo of 19th century adulteration, some outlets are now putting the sourdough label on loaves that are far from the real thing.

Andrew Whitley, co-founder of the Real Bread Campaign, author of Bread Matters and DO Sourdough – Slow Bread for Busy Lives, argues that ‘Real Sourdough’ needs legal definition via an Honest Crust Act to protect the public from ‘pseudough’.

Bread and flour - the fig-leaf of fortification remains

Andrew Whitley of Bread Matters reflects on a missed opportunity in this guest blog post.

The Government has decided to leave The Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 unchanged after years of deliberation and a consultation. So the fig-leaf of fortification remains, but what we need is more nutrient-dense food.

Defra reviewed the need for the 1998 Regulations and a public consultation on ‘possible regulatory options’ ended on 13 March 2013. Ministers announced their decision – to do nothing – in early August, the traditional month for burying policy embarrassments. There has been predictably little reaction, which is a shame, because an opportunity has been missed to realign a part of the food system for good.

Defra reviews compulsory flour fortification - the right to choose what goes in our bread?

What we eat should surely be a matter of choice? Not in the UK since the 1950s so far as bread is concerned, but change may be afoot. Whilst we defend the right to raw drinking milk, we need now to put the case for real bread.