Is Shipton Mill flour fortified?
Question
Is Shipton Mill flour fortified?
Answer
At Shipton Mill we try not to add any additional ingredients. Legislative requirements however require Millers to include additives to all white flours. These are Calcium as Calcium Carbonate, Thiamine ( Vitamin B1), Niacin (Vitamin B3 ), and Iron. I have attached the Bread & Flour regulations which explain this in detail and the limits required. It started in 1941 when children in Dublin had rickets. Different countries have different requirement Canada for example require Riboflavin and Folic Acid to be added. Folic acid is under debate in this country and maybe be added by Millers in the near future.
Some flours are commonly fortified with wheat gluten, but there are also a large range of enzymes which some millers may use to alter the rheological properties of dough the most common being Alpha Amylase which breaks down starch to manageable sugars for the yeast to utilise much faster. Other ingredients such as Cysteine which breaks the Gluten disulphide bonds to produce a more extensible dough or Ascorbic acid to toughen the dough. There is a very large range which we could add but prefer to leave it to bakers who may use bread improvers.
Added by: tom