Iceland Foods has axed its own-brand ‘half and half’ bread from sale following a backlash from a campaign group which objected to the use of the word “wholemeal”.
The “50% white and wholemeal” loaf has been removed from sale following a trading standards complaint by the Real Bread Campaign, which protested against the half-white bread product being marketed as wholemeal.
The group, run by food charity Sustain, wrote to five companies in June 2022 – Aldi, Hovis, Iceland, Jacksons and Warburtons – highlighting the issue surrounding the naming and marketing of their ‘half and half’ products.
Half and half loaves – which are typically marketed at families looking for the health benefits of brown bread but the taste of white – contain 50% wholemeal flour and 50% refined white flour.
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Food standards guidance published by the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) states that: “Bread labelled or advertised as ‘wholemeal’ must contain 100% wholemeal flour”.
Real Bread Campaign coordinator Chris Young said: “The law is clear on what you can and can’t name and market using the word wholemeal.
“It’s good to see Iceland move in line with this, though they could’ve just renamed the product.”
Section 6 of The Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 states that the word “wholemeal” can not be used in the labelling or advertising of bread unless “all the flour used as an ingredient in the preparation of the bread is wholemeal”.
The group is continuing to follow up its complaint about other manufacturers with the relevant trading standards teams, while also continuing to lobby the government and call for a review on the regulation of the words ‘wholegrain’ and ‘wholemeal’ as part of its wider Honest Crust Act work.
As of 12 December 2022, Defra advised “we are still considering the best course of action to address this issue.”
Young commented: “Evidently there’s an issue with the content, understanding and enforcement of current legislation, a full overhaul of which is long overdue.”
Iceland confirmed it had pulled the loaf, describing the move as a “commercial decision”.
The supermarket – which recently appointed managing director Richard Walker as executive chairman – told i news it had “streamlined” product lines and currently has “no plans” to bring back the loaf.
1 Comment. Leave new
Havn’t these people got more important things to worry about, surely if you buy a 50/50 loaf you don’t expect there to be 100% of anything it it so no surprises then.