All our gluten-free flours are milled in a completely separate building, and we test both the gluten-free grains and seeds on arrival at the mill as well as all the flours we produce from them to ensure they are gluten-free. Please be aware however there are some factors outside our control such as the fact that the courier we use for home deliveries carries gluten-free orders on the same lorries as orders which contain wheat flour, so once the product has left our warehouse, we are unable to control contamination risks from transit. Please note that if you place an order combining both gluten-free products and non-gluten-free products at the same time, they may be packed together in the same box. If you wish to avoid this, please place the orders separately, gluten-free flours only in one order, and anything else in a separate order. We are sorry if this causes you any inconvenience, we are a small business and at present this is the only way we can ensure gluten-free products will be packaged separately if you are ordering non-gluten-free products as well.

Your flour will arrive with a Best Before Date on the pack, by which you should try to use your flour. White wheat flours typically have a shelf life from milling of up to 12 months. Wholemeal flour is best used as fresh as possible, and has a typical shelf life of around 6 months from the date of milling. This is due to the higher oil content from the bran it contains. Beyond six months it will start to deteriorate and eventually go rancid in the same way that nuts do. Hot weather and/or poor storage conditions can hasten the reduction of shelf life. Please be aware there are a few exceptions and in particular, MILLET flour naturally has a shorter shelf life than our other flours. The same can also be said for our Organic Wheatgerm and Bran, which we do not heat treat in order to retain maximum flavour. We give our Organic Millet Flour a maximum of 2 months shelf life.

Store your flour in a cool dry place, with a stable temperature. Use a sealed container if there is a risk of weevils or other bugs finding their way into the flour. You can freeze your flour to extend the shelf life, but be sure to let it return to room temperature before baking.

At Shipton Mill we want to create flours that are as natural as possible. We don’t add anything to our flours apart from in circumstances where we are required to by law. .

All UK-produced non-wholemeal wheat flour has to be fortified, with the exception of Spelt: Legislative requirements require Millers to include a number of statutory nutrients to all white wheat flours. These are: Calcium as Calcium Carbonate, Thiamine (Vitamin B1), Niacin (Vitamin B3), and Iron. .

Folic acid is currently a hotly debated topic in this country and may have to be added by Millers in the future, however it would be our preference not to have to add anything to our flours.

As part of our supplier approval procedure, we check that our suppliers and the processing site for the raw material do not handle peanuts and/or tree-nuts in the same facility.

We ourselves do not handle or permit to be on site peanuts, tree-nuts or any products derived from them.

We are therefore as sure as we can be that the risk of the presence of any peanut or tree-nut residues is minimal. However, since we do not control the whole of the supply chain, from field to delivery, transport, to our customers and we do not test our products, we cannot claim our products are peanut and tree-nut free.

Flour bleaching has not been permitted legally in the UK for many years. None of our flours are bleached, and never have been since we opened our doors back in 1979, as it is a key part of our philosophy to keep the flours as natural as possible.

We don’t supply any whole grain as we are operating on a closed circuit where the grains are washed and are used straight away for milling.

In nature, the quality of grains varies both between fields and between harvests. We rigorously select the finest grains before delivery to the mill. It is our job as millers to ensure these grains are matched to the purpose best suited to them, providing bakers with consistently excellent results.

While we work to create consistency, we are also working with natural products (grains and seeds) which are subject to, varying growing conditions, soils and climate, so no two harvests will be exactly the same.

All our flours marked as “Organic” have been certified as such by the Soil Association. The way we grow and produce our food can make a world of difference for our health, as well as for wildlife and the environment. We’re proudly certified organic by the Soil Association, which means reducing the amount of toxins put into the earth with every bake and protecting the soil to keep our future harvests safe and encourage biodiversity. This creates not only the best quality flours for you but also for our planet. Certification is legally required to grow, process or market organic products, and all organic farms and companies are inspected by a certification body, at least once a year. This means when you see the organic symbol, you can trust that the food you buy has been made in a way that is better for people, animals and wildlife, and respects the natural environment. Organic farming methods can help to slow down climate change and regenerate soil fertility; if Europe’s farmland all followed organic principles, agricultural emissions could drop by 40-50-% by 2050, with plenty to feed the growing population healthy diets. Organic farmlands are also home to up to 50% more wildlife, store more carbon, have healthier soils, and around 75% more wild bees, as well as reducing exposure to pesticides.Not limited to certified organic, Shipton Mill work with farmers who uphold and share our values, who grow nourishing food, understanding their farms as an ecosystem, and who embrace biodiversity and champion growing without pesticides. 

Our Gluten-Free products are free from the 14 common EU-defined allergens. Our non-gluten-free products such as wheat, rye and spelt are free from all of the below with the exception of gluten. List of allergens: Celery, Cereals containing gluten, Crustaceans ,Eggs, Fish, Lupin, Milk, Molluscs, Mustard, Nuts, Peanuts, Sesame Seeds, Soya,Sulphur Dioxide (sometimes known as sulphites).

In the event that you are unable to attend your booked baking course, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can make the space available to other keen bakers. Regretfully, if this is less than 3 weeks prior to the course date and we are unable to fill the space, we will be unable to refund or transfer the place for you.