UK "Real Bread" Campaign Triumphs in Advertising Standards Investigation
27 May 2015 --- The UK’s Real Bread Campaign is celebrating today as a bakery was investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for selling bread marketed as ‘Real Bread’. The ASA found after investigation that while the bakery told customers its bread was hand-kneaded and made without additives, it was actually found to be made in a machine and it did contain the additives E300 and E516.
The Real Bread Campaign’s basic definition of Real Bread is simply: made without the use of so-called processing aids or other artificial additives. The advertiser further claimed its loaves were specifically ‘hand-kneaded’, and ‘additive-free’, but then admitted to the ASA that its dough contained additives and is mixed by machines.
The ASA investigation team’s draft recommendation was that the ASA should uphold the complaint in full as breaching CAP Code rule 3.1 on misleading advertising and that the ASA council should rule that the claims are not to be repeated. As the advertiser withdrew the advert after receiving the draft recommendation, the ASA dropped the case and the details have not been published publically.
According to The Bread and Flour Regulations 1998, full lists of ingredients and any additives used in making unwrapped loaves do not have to be displayed at the point of sale, and if deemed ‘processing aids’ additives do not even appear on the labels of wrapped loaves.
E300, which is the natural product vitamin C, is often used in baking as a bread enhancer. E516, or calcium sulphate, is used as a flour treatment agent.
