🔁You Lost Me at Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose HPMC (E464) 🤷🏻♀️
When I found out that one of the largest global gluten-free bread brand was launching a clean label, nothing artificial range, I was genuinely excited.
It felt like gluten-free bread, at its most basic had finally levelled up 🥳
Everything we’ve been advocating for and implementing at our bakery for over a decade was finally being recognised. It signalled that REAL, allergen-friendly bread without additives or unnecessary extras was no longer “niche” and that it was becoming mainstream.
But then I looked at the ingredient list!
There it was.... That dreaded ingredient that turns up in nearly EVERY supermarket free-from product:
Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC).
How “clean” or “natural” does that sound?
When I saw it listed, I felt genuinely disappointed and if I’m honest, quite offended. Not just on behalf of myself, but on behalf of all the small producers who’ve worked so hard to prove that you don’t need synthetic fillers and stabilisers, gums or ultra-processed ingredients to make good gluten-free bread.
To call something clean label whilst using HPMC makes me question the claim entirely. It also feels like it devalues everything small-scale, ingredient-conscious Free From bakers have been working towards for years.
It’s disheartening that terms like “clean label” are being used so loosely. Because when that happens, we risk diluting the meaning and misleading the very consumers who care about what’s in their food.
We’ve fought hard to move away from ultra-processing. Just as awareness is finally growing, it seems we’re being asked to accept that old ingredients in new glossy packaging somehow counts as “clean.”
I disagree.
