White Flour

White flour is a variety of highly refined flour. Most of the bran and wheatgerm are removed during milling, leaving behind only 70-75% of the wheatgrain.

White flour may be bleached to give it a 'whiter than white' appearance, using chemicals such as chlorine and peroxides. However, the use of these bleaching agents has now been banned in the European Union, although they may still be used in other countries. Unbleached flour is a creamy yellow colour.

White flour is available in a range of different varieties:

• Weak (or soft) flour has a low gluten content of around 8%, making it suitable for sponges, cakes and scones.
• Plain flour is a good all round flour for cakes, batters, pastry and thickening.
• Strong flour has a high gluten content, which makes it ideal for yeast products, breads and puff pastry.
• Type 00 (or semolina) flour is specially produced for the production of pasta.

By law, white flour in the UK must be fortified with iron, thiamine and niacin to bring the levels of these nutrients almost up to those contained in wholewheat flour. Calcium must also be added; fortified white flour contains 1.1g calcium/ 1kg flour - just over double that contained in wholewheat flour.