Frequently Asked Questions

• All Soya product manufactured by Cereform Royston and Northampton comes from traceable, audited sources of Non Genetically Modified Soya beans from certified  varieties of Soya bean seed.
• The variety and grower of Soya beans is specified and certificated.
• All growers of Soya beans have contracts in place. This stipulates no adjacent planting of GM Soya crops and no planting of GM Soya crops in previous harvest.
• There is full segregation in place from harvest, at all collection points, at terminals, during transport to UK, port storage and handling.
• Samples of beans are taken before shipping to the UK and sent for PCR analysis. Additionally, cereform sends a monthly composite sample of its Soya flour for PCR analysis. These results are available on request.
• Only full fat Soya (enzyme active or heat-treated) products from Non Genetically Modified Soya beans are manufactured at Cereform, so there is no risk of cross contamination with other Soya products.

• The audit trail has been verified by Law Labs and we are listed on the ValidIT website.

• Our suppliers are audited annually to the BRC Technical Standard for the supply of Identity Preserved Non Genetically modified foodstuffs and in addition are part of the CIPRS Canadian IP Scheme.

Q: Is there too much salt in our bread?

A: The baking industry is continually working with government to reduce the levels of salt used, but some salt is essential as a functional ingredient: if there is too little in your bread, it will lack flavour and will not keep as long.

Q: What is a flour treatment agent?

A: Flour is mixed with L-ascorbic acid, otherwise known as Vitamin C. This helps make dough form better and the bread softer. On the label you find that Vitamin C is called E300.

Q: Do bakers use bleach in our bread?

A: No, at one time chlorine dioxide was used to bleach flour but this has been not been the case for many years.

Q: The ingredients list on my bread includes “reducing agent”. Can you tell me what that does?

Bakers sometimes use an amino acid called L-Cystene, which helps dough to flow when processed. Dough for a burger bun, for example, needs to flow to fill the baking tin, otherwise it would end up as an indigestible lump.

Q: How can I make sure there I no genetically derived soya flour in the bread I buy?

In the UK and manufacturers ascertain that soya flour used is from certified, identity preserved, non-GMO sources. Soya is very valuable in bread, it keeps the moisture for longer and adds protein.

Q: I read that emulsifiers blow up the volume of my bread, without proportionally increasing the weight. So am I being cheated?

Bread in the UK is sold as a multiple of 400 g, the weight is always shown on the packaging. Emulsifiers are used to make the crumb softer, a particular benefit in wholemeal & grain breads and to keep your bread fresh for longer, which is in your interest as a consumer.

Q: I am a vegetarian, so I need to know whether enzymes used in bread are made from the pancreas of pigs.

A: No processing aids, such as enzymes, used in bread are derived from animal or marine sources. All enzymes used in the baking industry today are synthetically derived and their use is clearly defined under EU law. They are denatured in the baking process, i.e. they don’t survive baking. So you would not find enzymes in the finished bread.

Q: Can enzymes make you allergic?

A: Enzymes have been known to cause allergic reactions when inhaled, but there is no evidence of allergy from ingestion.

Q: There are health warnings about hydrogentaed fats - what is Cereform's stand on these?

A: Cereform is committed to offer their customers a full range of products without hydrogenated fats and trans-fatty acids and is actively removing these ingredients from their products wherever possible without compromising quality. Customers looking for alternative formulations of their existing products should contact their account manager.

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