tbthealth.substack.com/p/is-modern-day-bread-even-food
2 corrections found
E41, guar gum
This additive code is wrong: guar gum is INS/E412, not E41.
Full reasoning
The article identifies guar gum as “E41”, but authoritative food-additive references list guar gum as INS 412 / E412.
The WHO/JECFA food additives database entry for guar gum states:
- “GUAR GUM”
- “INS 412”
- “INS matches 412”
So the numbering in the post is incorrect by a missing digit. Readers trying to check the ingredient code would be misled, because E41 is not the standard additive code for guar gum; the standard code is E412.
1 source
- WHO JECFA – Guar Gum
GUAR GUM ... INS 412 ... INS matches 412.
the Irish Supreme Court ruled that bread served at American sandwich chain Subway could not in fact be defined as bread because of its high sugar content.
This overstates the ruling. The court did not say Subway’s product was not bread in general; it said it did not qualify as “bread” under a specific Irish VAT law definition for zero-rated staple foods.
Full reasoning
This sentence describes the 2020 Irish decision too broadly.
The legal issue in Bookfinders Ltd v. Revenue Commissioners was tax classification, not whether Subway literally sells something other than bread in the ordinary sense. Under Irish VAT law, a product only qualified as “bread” for the zero-percent VAT rate if ingredients like sugar or fat stayed below specified limits.
Authoritative summaries of the case explain that Subway’s bread fell outside the statutory definition of bread as a staple food under Irish tax law because its sugar content was too high. The Finance Act definition itself sets a limit of 2% sugar (and certain other ingredients) by weight of flour for the VAT-law definition of bread.
So the article’s wording is misleading because it turns a narrow tax-law ruling into a broad claim that Subway’s bread “could not in fact be defined as bread.” The court’s ruling was about eligibility for a tax exemption / zero rate, not a universal determination that Subway bread is not bread.
2 sources
- Library of Congress Law Library Blog – Irish Supreme Court Rules Subway Serves Freshly Baked Cake
The Irish Supreme Court held ... that the bread used in Subway sandwiches did not fall within the definition of bread as a staple food under Irish tax laws due to a high percentage of sugar and fat in the ingredients and was thus not subject to the zero percent tax rate.
- Finance Act, 1976, Section 60 (Irish Statute Book)
“bread” means food for human consumption ... fat, sugar and bread improver ... shall not exceed 2 per cent. of the weight of flour included in the dough.