§ 57 Mr. ALLEN BAKERasked the Prime Minister (1) whether his attention has been called to the recommendation made by Dr. Campbell that wheat should be milled to 73 per cent. instead of 81 per cent.; and whether he will consider the advisability of allowing the miller to mill the wheat by itself, and of supplying any adulterant it is decided to use to the baker separately, so that he may treat the same in the necessary manner to enable him to mix it with the wheaten flour in such a form that he can produce a good and wholesome loaf; (2) whether any reports have been 1100 received by the Government that bakers have to destroy quantities of bread which has been spoilt on account of the flour they have had to use; whether where such bread, being unfit for human food, has been given to feed animals fines have been imposed, thus making it necessary for the baker to destroy the bread; and (3) whether his attention has been called to a meeting held on Wednesday last by the London Master Bakers' Protection Society, where it was stated that war flour was most wretched stuff out of which it was impossible to make a decent loaf, and when a resolution was passed impressing upon the Prime Minister the necessity of preventing the waste occasioned by the inferior quality of flour supplied to the bakers to make into bread, which could only be brought about by an immediate alteration in the composition of Government regulation flour, and urging that, in the interest of the health of the consumers, the Bread Order should be revoked or amended and if he will say what steps have been taken to remedy these complaints?
§ 118. Mr. HASLAMasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether steps are being taken to ensure that the quality of flour milled is in all cases up to the standard required and that it is ground to a uniform fineness in the case of flour intended for making ordinary loaves of bread; whether means have been taken to ensure that the proportion of grain allowed other than wheat is not exceeded; whether he is aware that the mixture of wheaten flour with other cereals detrimentally affects the digestibility of bread; whether he is aware that there is considerable wastage of bread owing to dissatisfaction with the quality; and will he consider the desirability of reverting to a pure wheaten bread made of flour of uniform fineness? made from wheaten flour without the admixture of other cereals?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the MINISTRY of LABOUR (Mr. Bridgeman)I have been asked to reply to this and the two following questions, and I will answer them together with the question standing in the name of the hon. Member for Monmouth Boroughs. The recommendations and resolutions referred to, together with a number of other suggestions and complaints, have been received by the Food Controller, and 1101 at his request an expert Committee are now engaged in the investigation of all questions relating to the effect which the Government regulation flour has upon the health of the community. The conclusion so far is that, while bread made from this flour, when properly baked, is perfectly wholesome, there are unavoidable local variations in the flour used and in the methods of bread baking, and that these points require constant attention.
It is inevitable that in the manufacture and use of a new and unfamiliar material for bread difficulties should arise and a certain amount of wastage occur. But I see no reason why these difficulties which have occurred and been overcome in other countries should not be overcome here. In any case, having regard to the prospective supplies, there is no likelihood of being able either to lessen to any substantial extent the percentage of extraction from wheat or to admit the manufacture of a pure white flour. There seems no advantage in the proposal to allow the mixing to be done by individual bakers, and it would make the enforcement of any prescribed degree of admixture almost impossible.