Consumption of bread plummeted in America in the past year with an estimated 40 per cent of Americans eating less than in 2002. The US bread industry is to hold a crisis "bread summit" tomorrow to discuss measures to curb falling sales. In Britain, the Federation of Bakers launched a promotional campaign last month to counter the Atkins effect. British Bread month was advertised with the slogan "Use your loaf, have another slice."
Atkins dieters had best beware. Fighting off bread cravings is already difficult enough, but adding slogans like these into the mix may just tip the scales in the other direction. What will they try next? Secretly changing the scent in car deodorizers from the standard pine or lemon to the aroma of freshly baked bread?
The Medical Research Council (MRC) in Britain has warned that the basis of the Atkins diet is questionable and it could be dangerous. Dr Susan Jebb, head of nutrition at the MRC, said: "It is an unknown risk. The diet is nutritionally incomplete."
What is really amusing about this paragraph is the express concern regarding the possibility that people may actually be eating a nutritionally incomplete diet. This seems to imply that the standard (bread inclusive) fast food lifestyle is nutritionally complete. The issue at hand appears to be the unknown risk of a low carb diet vs. the well known risks of obesity.
Of course, some people are just unaware of The Dangers of Bread.
