Rose Prince - The Savvy Shopper

No. Sliced and wrapped bread may have amylase enzymes added, which soften the loaf, but as they are destroyed during baking they do not need to be listed on the label.

Yes. Bakers have found that fats, too, give bread a long shelf life (as if there were not enough other additives in there to keep the stuff going until next year). The fats are either fractionated (processed using centrifugal force) or hydrogenated (which contain transfats, see page 222).

Bakeries, even the big guys, do their best to keep any GM ingredients out of bread because they know shoppers hate the idea of it. Soya, which is widely used in sliced and wrapped bread to whiten it, and soya lethicin, an emulsifier, are also used. Soya lethicin could be GM contaminated but the quantity in the bread will not exceed the set limit for ingredients in food, so you will not see it on the label. By law, labels must indicate if a product contains more than 0.9 per cent GM ingredients. Not reassuring, but the bread companies would be crazy not to track the soya content in their bread for fear of being caught.

Any bread that has been made using a slow fermentation process, where slow-acting wild yeasts are used, can claim to be a sourdough. Even baguettes and ciabatta are sourdoughs but it is more pronounced in breads such as Poilâne (see page 79). Beware fakes. Olive oil is sometimes used to darken ciabatta to the greyish colour associated with sourdoughs. You can always tell by the taste, which should be rounded and ripe.

Not exactly. Yeast for the commercial bread industry is ‘grown’ on non-organic molasses (a by-product of sugar production). The yeast itself is natural but environmental campaigners say the production process pollutes the environment. The waste products from yeast production include sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid, magnesium sulphate, cleaning agents and disinfectants – all pollutants if released into the water supply. Organic bakers are permitted to use this yeast but many craft bakers now use ‘wild’ yeasts, grown on bases of flour and fruit, which do not leave a by-product. Wild yeast gives bread a ripe, nutty flavour – hence sourdough bread.

That’s easy – choose bread that is made with the original basic ingredients: flour, water, yeast and salt. A little vegetable oil or butter is fine, a little sugar gets the bubbles going. Read labels.

Yes – organic bakers can add vinegar and ascorbic acid flour improvers, but not all do.

In surveys in 2002, residues were found on over 50 per cent of loaves tested (although stated to be at safe levels). Residues were found on 26 per cent of speciality breads. No residues were found on organic loaves.

It is true that plenty of cheap bread will feed and nourish, even if it is adulterated. But if sociological change is the job of the baking business, why not reopen the thousands of small bakeries that once kept high streets alive? Regional distinctiveness would be revived – which has proved excellent for local economies.

Not great. It is said that 50 million polythene wrappers are used each week to wrap bread, and that carbon emissions from the bread factories are high. How this compares to the days of the local bakeries is not known.

At least 20 per cent of our bread comes from supermarket in-store bakeries. These bakeries are owned by the supermarkets or franchised out to larger bakeries. Either the loaves are baked from bread mixes that are made into dough on site, or frozen unbaked or semi-baked loaves are delivered to the in-store bakery and finished off in the oven. Many of these bakeries add dough conditioner to the bread mix. This is known as activated dough development and gets the dough rising at a faster rate than normal fermentation. The styles of bread made in the part-cooked culture tend to be Continental in appearance (baguettes etc) but in fact taste nothing like the crisp-crusted sourdough bread made traditionally in France. As to the comparison between this and craft-made bread – there isn’t one. It is a wasted opportunity, though.

Artisan Bread, Unit 16/17, John Wilson Business Park,Whitstable, Kent CT5 3QJTel: 01227 771881www.artisanbread.ltd.uk

Several varieties of hand-crafted bread made using traditional grains and wild yeast. Products include rye and spelt bread; spelt pizza bases and pumpkin bread. Mail order or contact for stockists.

Baker and Spice, 75 Salisbury Road, London NW6 6NHTel: 020 7604 3636www.bakerandspice.com

Choose from a long list of hand-made breads that includes various naturally leavened ‘levain’-style loaves, pain de mie (a soft white that children love), caramelised garlic and poppy linseed.

The Celtic Bakers, 42b Waterloo Road, London NW2 7UHTel: 020 8452 4390www.thecelticbakers.co.uk

Extra-environmentally friendly bread made with traditional flours.

Ditty’s Home Bakery, 44 Main Street, Castledawson,Northern Ireland BT45 8ABTel: 02879 468243www.dittysbakery.com

Typical Northern Irish griddle-cooked potato farls.

The Flour Station Bakery & Confectionery Supplies,22-34 Gwynne Road, Battersea, London SWII 3UWTel: 020 7223 5656

Artisan breads made with traditionally milled flour at this wholesale bakery, established by Jamie Oliver.

Hobbs House Bakery Ltd, Unit 6, Chipping Edge Industrial Estate,Hatters Lane, Chipping Sodbury, Bristol BS37 6AATel: 01454 321629www.hobbshousebakery.co.uk

Award-winning bakery specialising in organic breads. Mail order available.

Judges Bakery, 51 High Street, Hastings Old Town,East Sussex TN34 3ENTel: 01424 722588

Josephine Fairley and Craig Sams (the founders of Green & Black chocolate), together with an award-winning baker, recently opened this bakery specialising in slow, overnight-leavened breads of every type from rough Granary to French baguettes.

Lighthouse Bakery, 64 Northcote Road, London SWII 6QLwww.lighthousebakery.co.ukTel: 0207 228 4537

Small, traditional bakery run by Rachel Duffield and Elizabeth Weisberg (who bakes the bread). Several speciality loaves, including an outstanding sourdough and interesting breads from all over Europe.

Long Crichel Bakery Ltd, Long Crichel, Wimborne,Dorset BH21 5JUTel: 01258 830852www.longcrichelbakery.co.uk

Organic breads and cakes baked in a specially built wood-fired oven in a converted stable. Sourdough breads and English breads using traditional craft skills are specialities.

McPhies Bakery, 1527 Shettleston Road, Glasgow,Strathclyde G32 9ASTel: 0141 778 4732

Traditional craft breads made with stoneground flour.

Neal’s Yard Bakery, 6 Neal’s Yard, London WC2H 9DPTel: 020 7836 5199

Wonderful sourdough breads to match the amazing Neal’s Yard cheeses.

Poilâne, 46 Elizabeth Street, London WIW 9PATel: 020 7808 4910www.poilane.fr