The Bread and Flour Regulations 1998

UK Statutory Instrument 1998 No. 141 — creates 1 criminal offence.

Made

22 January 1998

In force from

19 February 1998

Extent

Not stated

Subject

Food, consumer protection, trading standards, product safety and age-restricted sales

Made under

Food Safety Act 1990

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — published with the instrument by the department that made it. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

These Regulations revoke and replace the Bread and Flour Regulations 1995 (“the 1995 Regulations”). These Regulations— a provide for exemptions from the Regulations (regulation 3); b require that wheat flour (subject to certain exceptions) be fortified with specified essential ingredients (regulation 4, Schedules 1 and 2); c restrict the use of specified ingredients in the preparation of flour and bread and require that an indication of the presence of a flour treatment agent be given in the case both of prepacked and of non-prepacked bread (regulation 5, Schedule 3); d reserve the names ‘wholemeal' and ‘wheat germ' for bread which complies with specified compositional requirements and prohibit the sale or advertising for sale using these names of bread which does not comply with the compositional requirements (regulation 6); e create offences and prescribe penalties (regulation 7); f specify the enforcement authorities (regulation 8); g provide a defence in relation to exports in implementation of Article 2 and 3 of, as read with the ninth recital to, Council Directive 89/397/EEC (O.J. No. L186, 30.6.89, p. 23) on the official control of foodstuffs (regulation 9); h apply various sections of the Food Safety Act 1990 (regulation 10); and i amend and revoke specified Regulations (regulations 11 and 12). The British Pharmacopoeia 1973, 1980 and 1988 and the British Pharmaceutical Codex 1973, referred to in Schedule 1 may be inspected at the British Library Lending Division Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorks LS23 7BQ, Tel. 01937 546 060 and by appointment at the library of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, 3 Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2HH, Tel. 0171-270 8419. In addition the British Pharmacopoeia 1973, 1980 and 1988 may be inspected at the Erskine Medical Library, University of Edinburgh, Hugh Robson Building, George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9XE, Tel. 0131-650 3685. The British Pharmaceutical Codex 1973 may be inspected at the National Library of Scotland, the Lending Division, 33 Salisbury Place, Edinburgh EH9 1SL, Tel. 0131-226 4531 Ext. 3329.

Offences created by this instrument

• If any person contravenes or fails to comply with regulation 4(4), 5 or 6(2) he shall be guilty of an offence and… regulation 7(1) · Revoked · Strict liability

What Parliament said about it

Contributions, debates and written statements mentioning this instrument by name. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

• Fortification of Flour: Folic Acid Commons · Written Statements · 21 September 2021 · The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Maggie Throup)

  I am today announcing the Government’s decision to introduce mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid to help prevent neural tube defects in foetuses. The Government initiated a consultation in 2019 on the issue of folic acid fortification. Our response is published today and confirms that we will proceed with fortification of non-wholemeal wheat flour, which is the most used type. This was the “baseline” option in the consultation and accompanying impact assessment. Neural tube defects are birth defects of the brain, spine, or spinal cord. They happen in the first few weeks of…

• Folic Acid Fortification Lords · Lords Chamber · 16 May 2024 · Lord Rooker

  To ask His Majesty’s Government what responses the European Commission and World Trade Organization have given after being notified of proposed changes to the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 regarding folic acid fortification, on 8 and 9 February respectively.

• Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 Lords · Lords Chamber · 11 September 2024 · Lord Rooker

  To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to update the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998.

• Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 Lords · Lords Chamber · 11 September 2024
• Folic Acid Fortification of Flour Commons · Written Statements · 18 November 2024 · The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Andrew Gwynne)

  I wish to update the House that on Thursday 14 November the Government laid legislation to fortify flour with folic acid to reduce the risk of life-changing conditions in pregnancies, such as spina bifida. Neural tube defects happen in the first few weeks of pregnancy, often before a woman even knows that she is pregnant. These can be devastating conditions for individuals and their families. Flour is already fortified with calcium, niacin, thiamine and iron for public health reasons. Adding folic acid will mean foods made with non-wholemeal wheat flour, such as bread, will actively help…

• Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 Lords · Lords Chamber · 11 December 2024 · Lord Rooker

  To ask His Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Merron on 11 September (HL Deb col 1562), whether it remains their intention to lay regulations before Parliament to amend the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 in 2024.

• Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 Lords · Lords Chamber · 11 December 2024
• Flour Milling Sector Lords · Grand Committee · 12 February 2026 · Lord Rooker (Lab)

  My Lords, it is usual for our one-off debates to highlight a problem or defect that requires attention. That is not the case with this issue. I simply want to celebrate a small, specialist, highly productive sector of the economy, namely the flour milling sector. I have a minor technical interest, which I will come to in a moment. The UK is self-sufficient in flour. More than 99% of households use food products that contain wheat flour, which is more than use toothpaste, by the way. Flour provides the biggest intake of iron in the diet, more than red meat. Since World War II, flour in this…

How Parliament handled it

Parliament's Statutory Instruments service records procedure from May 2017 onwards, and this instrument predates it. That is a limit of the source, not a statement that nothing happened.

Check the source

• This instrument on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text, including amendments made since
• Other instruments from 1998