RUSSIAN WHEAT IS MENACE TO BRITAIN

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19270, 6 January 1931, Page 11

RUSSIAN WHEAT IS MENACE TO BRITAIN

IS THE CAUSE OF SKIN AND GASTRIC TROUBLES.

(Special to the “ Star.*’) LONDON', November 20. “Bread, made of Russian wheat which is being dumped into Britain, is a menace to the health of the people who eat it,” said a Whitehall official, when interviewed by a representative of the “Sunday Express.” It has been discovered, he declared, that wheat has been seen over here which has not matured, or which has been grown on “starved” land, and bread made from such crops causes gastric trouble and skin diseases. “The present season’s supplies from Russia,” he went on, “have not properly matured in some cases, owing to the sunless harvest, and in others the crops have germinated. “The bread is, therefore, without nutriment, and poisons the systems of thc c e who eat it. “The flour is sold more cheaply by the millers, and bakers can produce a greater number of loaves per sack because it retains far more moisture in the mixing process. “This means that the amount of 1 dough needed for a 41b loaf is reduced

i by a quarter of a pound, and that the baker can afford to sell a loaf for 6*d, as against 7£d charged for bread made with nutritious flour. “But people who buy this kind of bread are getting weight without nutriment, bread in which many of the essential qualities have been destroyed, and with a higher percentage of water in place of food substance. “In the case of flour made from wheat that has not matured, faking with chemicals has been resorted to before it can be made into bread. This often leads to skin diseases.” A London wholesale baker stated that the loaf with the ideal flavour is obtained from English wheat grown near the sea. Strength and colour are added by mixing wheat from Manitoba and New Zealand or Australia. “Only flour produced from wheat grown within the Empire,” he added, “can produce bread that is nourishing. ’