The faking or doctoring of foodstuffs in not a modern thing: it has gone on for centuries. One of the most commonly doctored of foods was bread. Unscrupulous bakers would mix real wheat flour with other worthless powder and this would make bread seem to be of the right weight but such loaves were harmful to health.

To avoid the risk of such doctored food people began to avoid bakers and made their own bread at home. The commercial baker’s task was limited to baking the dough which had already been prepared at home. The miller was another trades-man who was suspected of cheating by mixing powders with flour. The distrust of such food merchants continued until the seventeenth century.

Today in many countries there are regulations ensuring that bread is made to the required standards of weight, quality and hygiene.