Updated November 2017
TOPIC is a consumer-led non-profit organisation that tests the accuracy of product labels. The ‘sugar-free’ and ‘gluten-free’ claims by Cape Town-based Freedom Bakery for their lemon meringue tart and chickpea and banana loaf were nominated by consumers for verification.
As always, our first step was to contact the business owner (Natasha Mandiringa), explain the TOPIC nomination process, and request assistance in validating the claims. The very next morning, we received an invitation to the factory to meet Mrs Mandiringa and see her bake. Being invited to witness a manufacturing process was a first for the TOPIC team and we readily went to the Diep River premises to find out more.
Label already changed…
At the meeting, Mandiringa explained her journey so far. It should be noted that TOPIC’s nominations were closed mid-July and at this stage, Freedom Bakery had already paid for laboratory tests themselves due to customers querying their sugar and gluten-free claims in May, and had removed the label claims in question in June. TOPIC decided to continue the investigation as the products were still verbally claimed to be sugar and gluten-free at the Tokai market, where we bought samples for testing.
Mandiringa then proceeded to bake for us while showing us her ingredients and explaining how she creates her products. TOPIC’s next step was to send our samples – a chickpea and banana loaf (for gluten testing) and a lemon meringue tart (for sugar testing) – to the respective laboratories.
Lab tests show 36.7% sugar!
The entire lemon meringue tart was blended, then analysed for its sugar content (which are fructose, glucose, sucrose, maltose, lactose, galactose and trehalose). It came back with a reading of 33,7% sucrose, or 33,7g of sucrose per 100g of product. While Mandiringa claims to not add any table sugar to this baked treat (only the sugar alcohol xylitol), the sucrose measured could be a reflection of the natural sugars present in the ingredients of the product, which include coconut flour and coconut nectar used to make the lemon meringue tart.
It is not common knowledge that coconut flour contains approximately 8g sugar per 100g, and coconut nectar contains approximately 75-85g sugar per 100g.
“From our kitchen visits, research and discussions with the laboratories, TOPIC believes that the sucrose levels may be a result of the natural sugars found in the ingredients,” says TOPIC spokesperson Peter Becker.
However, a product may only be labelled ‘sugar-free’ if it contains no more than 0.5g total sugar per 100g. According to the R146 labelling regulations, ‘total sugar’ in a product is defined as the sum of all intrinsic and added sugars. ‘Intrinsic sugars’ are sugars that are naturally occurring and which form an integral part of certain unprocessed foodstuffs, the most important being whole fruits and vegetables, that are enclosed in the cell, (mainly fructose, glucose and sucrose) and which are always accompanied by other nutrients.
Furthermore, ‘added sugar’ means any sugar added to a foodstuff during processing and includes but is not limited to sugar as defined by Regulations Relating to the Use of Sweeteners in Foodstuffs under the Act, honey, molasses, sucrose with added molasses, coloured sugar, fruit juice concentrate, deflavoured and/or deionised fruit juice and concentrates thereof, high-fructose corn syrup and malt or any other syrup of various origins.
“No-sugar” claims fail validation…
Therefore, to be called ‘sugar-free’, the sugars added to the product, as well as those naturally present in the ingredients need to be taken into account.
Under these definitions, according to the testing laboratories, coconut nectar would be classified as an added sugar. Therefore, the ‘no sugar’ claim was not accurate and Freedom Bakery was correct to remove it from their label in June.
“Gluten-free” claim also fails validation…
Results from the testing of the chickpea and banana loaf proved puzzling. The results of the gluten ELISA test showed 17g/kg, which is over 800 times more than the 20mg/kg limit acceptable for a product to be labelled ‘gluten-free’.
The main ingredients in Freedom Bakery’s chickpea and banana loaf are chickpea flour and coconut flour, both naturally gluten-free products. The TOPIC team observed Mandiringa bake and saw first-hand the gluten-free labels on the chickpea flour. Mandiringa also provided the laboratory test from her chickpea flour supplier from June 2014 showing undetectable amounts of gluten.
TOPIC contacted the chickpea flour supplier and there are no more current tests results available but the company confirmed that they conduct tests on a rotational basis for their gluten-free products. We have also contacted the coconut flour supplier who is currently conducting a gluten test. Results are pending and will be published on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/topicsa.
As mentioned, Freedom Bakery removed all sugar or gluten-free labels from their products in June 2015 and consumers are advised to read the full list of ingredients on all products and decide whether it is safe for them to consume or not.
“Freedom Bakery has been very transparent with TOPIC, including immediately inviting us to factory inspections during the baking process, showing us all ingredients used, and asking for suggestions as to how to make their labelling claims accurate,” says Becker.
“Regarding the gluten issue, it seems that ingredients which on the face of it should be gluten-free, seem to contain large amounts of gluten. This highlights a challenge for small-scale food product manufacturers, for whom the costs of regular laboratory testing are prohibitive,” Becker continues.
“With regard to the sugar-free claim, this investigation has further highlighted a widespread misconception that if table sugar is not an ingredient, then the product may be called ‘sugar-free’.”
Freedom Bakery customer Lisa Tremeer says, “After the first gluten tests were done in May 2015, Natasha changed her labels and the flour used, to make her products better for the public. She has met with the gluten testing laboratory, the health inspector and has insisted on buying only gluten-free labelled products.
“This case highlights a widespread industry problem that does not stop here. Further investigation needs to take place to determine why the tests show up with gluten when the flour should be gluten-free,” Tremeer says.
Commenting on the findings, Mandiringa says: “I made a mistake with the initial labels where I said they were ‘sugar-free’ as I didn’t add any table sugar to my products, and I immediately acknowledged my mistake. I have learned from this and I am trying to do everything right. I am using flours which are naturally gluten-free in all my products and I am committed to training my staff to be accurate in what they say to consumers.
“I do not want to mislead people or make them sick. I want them to understand what is in the products they take home. Baking gives me great joy and we have always been very transparent about what we are doing here, our doors have never been closed to customers,” Mandiringa adds.
“I have customers who have been coming to me for seven years and have never been sick from any of my products. I am always looking out for my customers – I love my products and would never do anything to jeopardise my seven years of work. Freedom Bakery is a good name with a good product.”
First follow-up: July 2016
Our team visited Freedom Bakery at their new premises in Bergvliet to follow-up.
As we noted in our press release of November 2015, the gluten results were puzzling. TOPIC suggested that Freedom Bakery show us their purchasing slips/order paperwork to allow us to verify that sufficient gluten-free ingredients were being purchased to bake the amount of gluten-free bread that was being sold each month. We were told that invoices were not available as the books were not yet being formally kept and that invoices for July 2016 would be available for us to see within a few weeks. When we followed-up as arranged, the invoices were still not available.
Browsing the shop showed no products with gluten- or sugar-free label claims, although the ingredients lists showed items such as chickpea and coconut flour, which are gluten and sugar free.
We promised to continue to follow-up, and keep you informed.
Second follow-up: March 2017
After repeatedly enquiring about the invoices, Natasha finally agreed to meet with us again. The invoices we were shown were for the bakery’s raw ingredients and we focused on the coconut flour purchases. Eight invoices dated from 14 July 2016 to 22 February 2017 showed a total of 159kg of coconut flour
purchased over that period. This quantity of flour corresponds to about 625g per day, or about 725g per week day. If only coconut flour was used to make bread, the invoices that we saw would be enough for a few loaves or about one bag of rolls per day.
Additionally, we also purchased coconut wraps and coconut rolls for testing. According to their ingredients list (see photo), there should be no wheat present in those products.
Both wraps and rolls were also tested for wheat using the PCR method, and both came back positive for the presence of wheat.
Many attempts were made to contact Natasha for further comment on the latest test results. However, our calls were not answered and no response was ever received to our multiple voice and email messages.
Third follow-up: October 2017
On the 4th of October, Natasha was interviewed on Cape Talk alongside consumer journalist Wendy Knowler and allergen specialist Dr Harris Steinman, director at Food and Allergy and Consulting Services (FACTS) laboratory.
Listen to the podcast here: Freedom Bakery faces heat over food fraud allegations: http://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/275016/freedom-bakery-faces-heat-over-food-fraud-allegations
After this interview, the TOPIC SA team again purchased coconut rolls from Freedom Bakery for testing. This time around, the rolls were found to be sold loose and unpackaged. We were verbally assured that they were only made with coconut flour, that they weren’t made with wheat and were gluten-free. The rolls were sent to the lab for gluten testing.
Results obtained show that these rolls contain very high amounts of gluten (about 5.5g of gluten per 100g), which is the level to be expected for products baked using mostly wheat flour. The results were once again sent to Natasha for comment but she had not responded by the time of writing.
In Conclusion…
According to FACTS director, Dr. Steinman: “Since October 2016, we have been independently testing, on almost a monthly basis, selected gluten-free products from Freedom Bakery. Not one has ever tested gluten-free”.
“Individuals experiencing adverse effects may not attribute exacerbation of symptoms to products from this source, and will have extraordinary difficulty in trying to tease out the source. If you do not experience adverse symptoms, you are not affected by gluten or wheat. That is, the diagnosis is incorrect. In the case of people with coeliac disease, symptoms may not be apparent, but physiological changes will be happening. In this instance, avoid all products”.
The results of the laboratory testing done as part of our ongoing investigation show that claims, verbal or otherwise, of gluten-free and sugar-free, as well as the ingredients listed on the labels at Freedom Bakery cannot be trusted. People with medical conditions such as celiac disease, wheat allergy or diabetes are advised to be very cautious with these products.
I am gobsmacked. How could you blame Freedom Bakery? Surely it is her suppliers of the flour etc that should be bought to book for food fraud (as per the above). If I purchase something, say: Sugar Free sweets, I buy them with absolute trust, the same can be said for Natasha, who relies on the TRUTH from her suppliers.
It appears that you should be targeting her suppliers for food fraud, as it seems you’re all hell bent on destroying her passion and love for baking and cooking!!
Freedom has a responsibility to source from elsewhere to protect their customers from deceitful suppliers. Failure to do so is to be complicit in deceiving the end user. Obviously…
This is an ongoing attempt to discredit Freedom Bakery who provide wonderful, healthy, fresh, foods to the public. It is fanned by jealous, small minded, people who are trying to match, and therefore compete with her product. When Natasha makes a mistake she owns up to it and corrects it. She is a courageous and skilled entrepreneur and will always get my, and thousands of others, support. Each attempt to discredit her simply brings her more business and demonstrates how her attackers, like you TOPIC, are messing around in the shallow end of good business. You lack integrity and should concentrate rather on developing your own strengths rather than trying to discredit good people. This whole article is old, rehashed, untrue and jolly good grounds for deformation of character. I hope she sues. You deserve it. Most of your statements are simply not true and you should be exposed. Give up this silly game and treat yourself to a meal and a basket of goodies from Freedom Bakery. I highly recommend them.
My comment is awaiting moderation? What a joke. This just means you wont publish support for Fredom Bakery. A one sided attack. You should be ashamed, and sued.