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REDear @LidlGB, what is the ‘fermented wheat flour’ you add to products? Is it a sourdough starter culture that makes the dough rise; flour cultured using specific bacteria to generate propionic acid, which you add as a 'clean label solution' to extend shelf life; or something else?
We've asked numerous times but received no response from you. Thanks, the Real Bread Campaign.
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We asked this question of the UK's 10 largest supermarket chains and six other large, factory loaf brands. You can read which responded, what they (and the industrial dough fabricators' trade body) have said, and find out more, in the latest news and articles sections of the Campaign website.
Our site is also where you can read about (and JOIN US in support of) all of our charitable work. We champion Real Bread for all, and the people who make it (at home and professionally), while challenging obstacles to their rise. We also fight for everyone to have the chance to make better-informed choices.
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Propionic acid occurs naturally in some foods. It can also be synthesised by chemical or microbial means at concentrations high enough to inhibit mould growth and extend shelf life.
If bacteria are used to general propionic acid, which is then separated from its growth medium, food law deems the propionic acid to be an additive. It is a preservative that must be listed on the label by name and / or the code E280.
If the propionic acid is not separated from its growth medium (e.g. flour and water), food law does not consider the mixture to be an additive, so a manufacturer can add it and choose to list it as ‘fermented wheat flour’, without mentioning propionic acid or its E number.
Suppliers market this sort of 'not-an-additive-honest' to food manufacturers as ‘label friendly’ or ‘clean label solutions’.
Though permitted by ingredient labelling legislation, we believe choosing not to declare intentionally added propionic acid to be misleading by omission of an important, material fact - compounded if a company also makes a claim about not using preservatives.
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@realbreadcampaign
