Lidl has changed the name of its Sourdough crusty rye bloomer following a complaint by the Real Bread campaign that claimed the product was not in fact made from sourdough rye.
The complaint was prompted by a Lidl customer who revealed the supermarket had marked its product as ‘sourdough rye’, despite the bread being mainly made from wheat flour (56%), with baker’s yeast.
Despite the value supermarket giant initially rejecting the customer’s complaint, Lidl has now agreed to rename the “Sourdough crusty rye bloomer” product to “Crusty Wheat & Rye Bloomer”.
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Real Bread Campaign coordinator Chris Young said: ‘We’re thankful that Lidl has come up with a more appropriate name for the product but we shouldn’t have to be spending our time on individual cases like this.
“Whichever party forms the next government, we urge them to introduce our proposed Honest Crust Act of improved composition, labelling and marketing standards.’
“In the meantime, we urge all bakeries and retailers to adopt the measures voluntarily, including displaying full ingredients lists of unwrapped products at point of sale, so shoppers can make better-informed buying choices,” he added.
The ASA, which originally rejected the complaint made by the Real Bread Campaign, argued that “that there was no breach of rules” for Lidl as there is currently no “fixed legal definition of sourdough bread in the UK”.
The Real Bread Campaign then took its complaint to the trading standards department of the London Borough of Bexley.
Young added: “The fact that the ASA’s decision was different to the outcome of our trading standards complaint once again underlines the need for the Honest Crust Act we’ve been calling for since 2009.
“Too much still relies on opinion and interpretation, with cases like this taking weeks, months and even more than a year to resolve. Clear-cut definitions and regulation would make things some much simpler for shoppers, business owners and consumer protection bodies.”
