View report page

40
risk to the consumer, especially when regard is had to the inhibitory effect
of the bleaching agent on digestive processes and enzymes. Even in the case
of flour which is bleached to the small extent which is at present ordinarily
practised, it would in present knowledge be unwise to conclude that the
process is attended by absolute freedom from risk. The fact that bleached
flour has been shown to be something more than natural flour, the colour of
which has been modified, is also of importance in considering whether
bleached flour may properly be represented as geniune flour.
Apart from any dietetic considerations, a large number of people desire
bread of exceptional whiteness, and it is reasonable to suppose that what is
demanded by those who prefer such bread is an article made from flour, the
whiteness of which is due to its being prepared from specially selected wheats
by the elaborate mechanical separation and "purification" of modern milling
methods. Few people would carry their approval of whiteness to the extent
of requiring naturally dark flour to be chemically treated.
The above considerations apply also to the addition of "improvers" to
flour. These articles can hardly be regarded as proper constituents of what
is represented to be genuine flour.
By the use of "improvers," flour from weak wheat is made to simulate
flower from a stronger wheat, although as regards proteid content it is inferior
to the flour which it imitates. Moreover, they permit more loaves to be made
from a given quantity of flour, which means a diminution in the nutritive
value of each loaf.
The indiscriminate addition of powerful chemical substances, such as
hydrofluoric acid, phosphorus pentachloride, and the oxides and sulphides of
phosphorus to flour is most dangerous.
At the present time, many millers are unaware of the nature and composition
of the "improvers" which they add to flour, and are content with
the assurance of chemical manufacturers that the preparations offered to them
constitute in all respects desirable additions to flour. It must also be
remembered that the addition of foreign substances may not be limited to the
miller.
The increasing activity which is now being displayed in the use of
different articles as additions to flour must be regarded with considerable
apprehension. It does not appear desirable that such an indispensable foodstuff
as flour, the purity and wholesomeness of which are of first importance
to the community, should be manipulated and treated with foreign substances,
the utility of which, from the point of view of the consumer, is more than
questionable.