In some products, spelled is mixed with a certain percentage of wheat. This is what was discovered by a survey conducted in Germany
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerousSpelled-based bread, biscuits or pasta are increasingly popular with consumers. In Germany, however, the public authorities have realized that about 1 product out of 5 is actually “cut” with traditional and much cheaper wheat.
When we buy spelled-based products we are convinced that that package of pasta, bread or biscuits is made 100% with this cereal. In fact, an investigation conducted by the Chemical and Veterinary Investigation Office Freiburg (CVUA) found that this is not always the case.
The CVUA reviewed a total of 133 samples of spelled-based foods, ancient spelled and einkorn spelled sold in Germany, discovering in some products an adulteration from "wheat", that is from conventional soft wheat.
Thanks to a new method, the CVUA, together with the Cantonal Laboratory of Zurich and the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety, differentiated all types of spelled tested from common wheat and made a reliable quantification of wheat contamination.
The results showed that half of the samples were contaminated only at low levels by common wheat (5% or less). In 28% of cases the contamination was tolerable (up to 10%) but 29 of 133 samples (i.e. the 22%) instead showed a significant contamination from common wheat ranging from 10 to 20%.
The term “spelled” was judged to be misleading by the German authorities, especially in the case of contamination proportions above 20%.
The use of wheat obviously has an economic advantage for producers. For spelled, in fact, the yield is lower and also the extraction of the grain is more complex. This means that production prices are about 25% higher than those of wheat.
@ ua-bw.de
@ ua-bw.de
But considering that consumers are also willing to pay a higher price for products made with spelled, the control of the mixtures used for food (also in the light of the results of this survey) seems to be more than ever necessary, precisely to protect the consumer from possible deceptions.
Among other things, the CVUA specifies that:
There are no limit values anchored in food legislation for a tolerable content of soft wheat in spelled.
Due to the striking results obtained, the CVUA has announced that the investigations will continue in 2022.
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Source: CVUA Freiburg
Read also:
- Spelled: properties, benefits and contraindications
- Spelled flour: 20 sweet and savory recipes
