M&S has expanded its ‘Only… ingredients’ range with two new loaves.
The latest additions are a White Sliced Toasting Loaf with ‘only four ingredients’ and a Sunflower Seed & Spelt Sliced Toasting Loaf with ‘only six ingredients’.
However, as with some other lines in the range, the full ingredients list is condensed to arrive at the number stated on the front of pack.
“The four-ingredient loaf contains flour, water, salt, yeast – and that’s it,” M&S Food MD Alex Freudmann wrote in a post on LinkedIn.
It led one reader to note: “Your flour contains wheatflour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin and thiamine.”
“That’s correct,” replied Freudmann. “The Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 mandate that wheat flour can be fortified with calcium carbonate, iron, thiamin (vitamin B1) and niacin (vitamin B3).”
M&S took a similar approach with bread rolls, one of the first lines in the new range in March, by condensing a number of ingredients into ‘multi-flour’ in order to claim ‘only five ingredients’.
It led the Real Bread Campaign to raise “concerns and questions” in April. “The panel on the back lists 11 ingredients (15 if you don’t exclude the ‘fortificants’ that were added to the flour), so how can M&S claim it is made from only five?” campaign co-ordinator Chris Young asked at the time.
The range also includes chocolate bars, which prompted questions in April from consultant development chef and The Grocer columnist Anthony Warner. “Just five ingredients in this product apparently, although one of those is dark chocolate, which is by its nature a compound ingredient,” said Warner. “Using this logic, a Dairy Milk is just one ingredient.”
The range is aimed at shoppers looking for products made of ingredients they can identify as things they might find in their own kitchen cupboard.
“Flour is a single ingredient that can be found in your kitchen cupboard, and it is a legal requirement to fortify flour that is milled in the UK,” said an M&S spokesperson. “Our ‘Only… ingredients’ range is about offering choice to customers who want a product with limited ingredients which can be found in their kitchen cupboard.
“Our ‘Only… ingredients’ range has been lovingly created for customers who are looking for products with fewer ingredients and we are thrilled with the positive response. We develop all our foods using processes as close to the kitchen as possible and with ingredients you’d typically find on your cupboard shelves. This approach contributes to the high-quality customers expect from M&S.”
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