We have a great reputation as artisan bakers dedicated to the Foodservice sector. We bake more than a hundred different mouth-watering breads, freshly frozen and ready to thaw. And we’re absolutely delighted to announce our latest innovation, the local sourcing of extra virgin rapeseed oil for all our delicious ciabatta and focaccia breads, completely replacing imported olive oil.

The rapeseed oil we’re using is cold pressed to perfection from Red Tractor certified rapeseed, which is grown just 6 miles from our Margate bakery on Woodchurch Farm in Birchington. Having done a great deal of research and taste-testing, it’s clear the flavour and quality of this wholly British oil is a perfect match for the 100% British Red Tractor flour we use in all our breads.

When can our foodservice customers get their hands on our new rapeseed oil ciabattas and focaccias? We’re aiming for mid June 2016, and we’ll be updating all our product specifications to reflect the change. At the same time you’ll spot the advert pictured above in the foodservice trade press throughout June and July, designed to spread the word throughout the nation. If you fancy treating your end-customers to 100% British ciabatta and focaccia breads crafted with pure rape seed oil, contact us for a free sample pack.

Speciality Breads are committed to supporting British farmers, and we’ll continue to source UK ingredients, preferably Red Tractor, whenever we can.

More news from the bread world – Deadly in Delhi

Our 100% British bread is about as safe and nutritious as it gets. If you live in India, on the other hand, your daily bread could contain nasty cancer-causing chemicals like Potassium Bromate and Potassium Iodate, banned in many countries but still widely used to treat flour over there. It’s all down to the country’s famously slack food regulations, and India’s Centre for Science and Environment is alarmed by the results of its study.

CSE tested breads sold in Delhi and found dangerous residues of Potassium Bromate and Iodate in a range of almost forty popular packaged bread brands. Potassium Bromate is classified as a category 2B carcinogen and Potassium Iodate has been tipped for playing a part in thyroid-related diseases. The Centre has demanded an immediate ban on both chemicals.

USA’s bread has a lot of catching up to do

As the Wall Street Journal reported recently, the whole grain revolution is very different from many food revolutions. This one has teeth, since making the change to wholegrains could dramatically improve the nation’s health.

One fan claimed he lost an awesome 15 pounds by eating sourdough bread. Adam Leonti, the owner of the Brooklyn Bread Lab in Bushwick, milled his own wheat at the facility, ensuring the resulting flour contained all the vital fibre required for a healthy diet, something our cousins over the water are chronically short of.

The volatile, living enzymes you get from the real thing are often taken out of white flour, here and in the US, but our bodies need them for effective digestion. Proper bread tastes great. Our bodies actually need freshly milled whole grain to digest bread properly. But ‘white commodity flour’, used by the USA in vast quantities, doesn’t contain wheat germ.

Wheat is incredibly nutritious. But when you mill out the bran and germ, you lose the essential micronutrients we need the most. The lack of wheatgerm and bran in some white flour seems to reflect the worst nutritional deficiencies seen in US residents, so the connection is clear. We’re fortunate. As a nation we’re miles and miles ahead of the USA in terms of good bread.