Bread regulations bite on homefront
People across the Stirling area were 100 years ago this week facing new regulations on the sale of bread.
Readers of the Observer were warned that as of March 12, 1917, the days of buying freshly-baked bread were over for the time being.
The restrictions were laid down by the Government and aimed at rationing supplies at a time of mounting concern over food shortages.
Supplies of basic essentials were being hit by the war and, in particular, the sinking by German submarines of food-laden ships bound for Britain.
Cities, towns and villages were urged to increase domestic food production by cultivating unused areas of ground such as Stirling’s King’s Park.
And substitutes for wheat – such as mixtures of peas, arrowroot, parsnips, beans, lentils, maize, rice, barley and oats – were being used in bread experiments.
Under the latest regulations, bread could not be sold unless it was at least 12 hours old and in the shape of a “one-piece over-bottom loaf, or a tin loaf or a roll”.
No currant, sultana or milk bread was to be sold and the use of sugar in making bread was forbidden. Bakers were also stopped from exchanging new bread for old.
Bread was to be sold by weight, and loaves had to weigh one pound or an even number of pounds.
Rolls were to weigh two ounces and only Government-authorised flour could be used.
It was hoped that by holding back sales for 12 hours, the bread would be more easily cut up and “not nearly as quickly consumed”.
The Observer added: “It is possible, by using loaves that are not new, to apply systematically the Food Controller’s suggested rations.
“Assuming the 12-hours old loaf to produce 14 slices...this would mean each person would be entitled, under the Food Controller’s rationing, to four slices a day.
“The saving in consumption of one of these slices of bread per day would mean a weekly economy of 1lb per head or, as the Food Controller pointed out, an annual savings of 1,000,000 tons of bread.”
For the bread trade, the main difficulty in complying with the order was to find suitable storage for loaves prior to sale.
Up until then baked bread went directly from the ovens to the delivery vans.
The Observer added: “It will also be necessary for the baking trade to study more closely the keeping qualities of the loaf, and since experts hold that the better the loaf the better its keeping qualities, it follows that the new proposal should prove to the ultimate benefit of the consumer.”