Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what representations he has received about the health implications of the proposal to remove the obligation to add nutrients to white bread.
Mr. John PattenRepresentations about the health implications of the proposal to remove the obligation to add nutrients to white bread have been received chiefly from lay sources following a recent television programme. The proposal follows the recommendations of a panel of 207W medical and scientific experts in a report published in 1981. The panel considered that there was no nutritional advantage in the continued addition to all flour, other than wholemeal, of calcium, and to white flour of iron and nicotinic acid to the amounts found naturally in brown flour. The panel also concluded that there would be no likelihood of a resulting deficiency of thiamin if its mandatory addition to white flour be no longer required.
Mrs. Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he has issued any advice on the addition of vitamins and nutrients to bread.
Mr. John PattenThe Chief Medical Officer's committee on medical aspects of food policy has published a report on "The nutritional aspects of bread and flour" — HMSO 1981. This report recommends that the addition of calcium to all flour, other than wholemeal, and of iron, thiamin and nicotinic acid to white flour, be no longer mandatory.