Report of the Panel on Composition and Nutritive Value of Flour / presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Minister of Health.

  • Great Britain. Panel on Composition and Nutritive Value of Flour.
Date:
1956
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Panel on Composition and Nutritive Value of Flour / presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Minister of Health. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    17/50 (page 5)
    freedom as to the method of attaining the specified levels of “token” nutrients. 5.9. In the hope of resolving these differences of view the members of the Conference did, however, unanimously agree that during the remaining period of control certain investigations should be undertaken, among which one of the most important was to be the determination of whether low extraction flour, suitably reinforced with the three “token” nutrients, could satisfactorily replace in the diet higher extraction flour in which the three “token” nutrients were obtained wholly from the wheat grain(®). The dietetic experiments carried out by Dr. E. M. Widdowson and Professor R. A. McCance in Germany in 1947-48, the results of which have been published by the Medical Research Council(@°), were initiated for this purpose. Government Policy following Decontrol of the Milling Industry 5.10. Early in 1953 it became clear that it would shortly be possible to decontrol cereals and to remove all restrictions from the milling industry. In these circumstances, and since the difference of opinion between the Government’s advisers and the industry had not been resolved, the Govern- ment decided to adopt what was in essence a compromise proposal(?), To meet the views of the industry the Government agreed to permit the production of flours of any extraction rate provided that, where the extraction rate was below 80 per cent., the levels of the three “token” nutrients should be raised by the addition of synthetic nutrients to not less than the minima recommended by the Post-War Loaf Conference. On the other hand, the Government limited the payment of the subsidy on bread to that made from so-called National flours, i.e. flours of, or above, 80 per cent. extraction rate, because in the opinion of their advisers, these flours were of higher nutritive value than the lower extraction enriched flours. This policy was designed to give full freedom to the consumer to buy whatever type of bread he chose. 5.11. This compromise was accepted by the milling industry with one proviso. The industry pointed out that if there was (as they anticipated) a demand for “ Patent” flours, it would be impracticable to meet such a demand unless they could dispose economically of the less refined flour mill streams which were produced in the course of “ Patent” flour production. They therefore asked that they should be permitted to produce National flour by an appropriate selection of mill streams (so-called “ divides”) as well as by the “ straight-run ” process. Following an intensive investigation, the Government acceded to this request. 5.12. Effect was given to the Government’s compromise policy (including the modification referred to in the previous paragraph) in the Flour Order, 1953(2), and the Bread Order, 1953(/3). For the consumer the effect of these Orders was to provide the alternatives of subsidised National breads, made from flour of or above 80 per cent. extraction, at 74d. per 12 Ib. loaf, and unsubsidised breads, made from flours of extraction rates lower than 80 per cent. (in which, however, the “token” nutrients had been restored to the specified level) at 104d. to 1s. Od. per 1} Ib. loaf. If a family of five, for example, should decide to purchase unsubsidised white bread instead of the subsidised National loaf, their weekly expenditure on bread (in terms of the national average of about 3 Ibs. per head per week) would go up by about 2s. 6d. There was thus an appreciable monetary incentive in favour of the purchase of National bread. Household demands for National bread and breads made from flours of lower extraction are detailed in Appendix 1.