Letter: American wheat

Sir: In reply to Maya Kraus (Letters, 25 November), I have no wish to become embroiled in the rights and wrongs of the proposed Food Standards Agency handling both food safety and nutrition. However, your readers should be aware that British flour and bread is made predominantly from British and other European wheat. Usage of North American wheat is a tenth of its level 25 years ago, accounting for only 6 per cent of our needs. In the circumstances, an association between North American wheat and asthma seems highly unlikely, though we would naturally be interested to see the evidence.

JOHN MURRAY

Director General

National Association of British and Irish Millers

London SW1