From Gareth Byrne-Perkins, Broughton, Hampshire, UK
I agree that Anthony Warner's distaste for food trends, particularly #JERF, is completely founded – as is that for the deadly marketing that has encouraged us to consume the foods we do (17 June, p 24). But the focus on a randomised trial of only 20 people isn't a good foundation for a critique of sourdough, or anything else for that matter.
The study has no reference to the long-term benefits of not shovelling down tasteless white pap. A spot-check on metabolic markers completely misses the point. If we eat loads of sourdough we will get fat, as we will if we eat loads of white, mass-produced bread. We do know that sourdough tastes better and has an almost personalised ingredient make-up.
