Sir, – We are writing to you with reference to John McKenna's recent article "The best thing since sliced bread? A ban on sliced pan" (Health + Family, October 21st).
Mr McKenna asserts that “if you want to improve the health of families and the health of the nation, what you should ban is commercial bread”. He also comments that “if it’s not good for the swans, can I suggest it’s not good for you either?” This is not only factually incorrect but we believe could raise unnecessary alarm amongst the general public.
All bread, whether made commercially or otherwise, has an important role to play in a healthy, balanced diet. Bread provides a wide range of nutrients, including protein, folic acid, dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals. For example, research undertaken by the Irish Universities Nutrition Alliance has found that bread provides as much as 10 per cent of Irish people’s daily intake of protein and folic acid. Although brown bread contains more fibre than white bread, because of its popularity, white bread provides 9 per cent of our daily fibre intake. Bread is also the second main contributor to both the iron and calcium intake of the Irish diet.
A recent review by the British Nutrition Foundation shows that bread produced by the Chorleywood method has the same nutrient content as any other method of production. Bread is largely made from flour (which contains naturally occurring enzymes), yeast and water. In some instances, additional ingredients are added in very small quantities to enhance the final product. These are all approved and deemed to be perfectly safe. – Yours, etc,
PATRICK McCLOSKEY,
Flour Confectioners
and Bakers Association,
Dalkey, Co Dublin;
GORDON POLSON,
Federation of
Bakers, London.