Thomas Allinson
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Thomas Richard Allinson (1858 – 1918) was a British doctor and proponent of whole grain (or "wholemeal") bread consumption. His name is still used today for a bread popular in Europe, Allinson bread.[1]
Biography
Allinson was born in Grange-over-Sands, in Morecambe Bay in Lancashire. At age fifteen he began work as a chemist/pharmacy assistant. With the money he saved from that and financial help from his step-father, he was able to attend medical school at the University of Edinburgh. At age 21 he set up a practise in London.
During the 1880's Allinson developed his "Naturopathy" theory. In place of medicine, he advocated health through diet and exercise, and especially the benefits of stone-ground whole grain breads. He wrote and sold a number of books on stomach diseases, rheumatism, vegetarian cooking and healthy diets, and gave talks exhorting his ideas. In one of his books, The Advantages of Wholemeal Bread, he put forth his idea that whole grain bread was healthier than white (or refined) bread. At the same time he advocated vegetarianism and put forth the idea that smoking was a cause of lung cancer, which was a radical idea at the time. Allinson regularly sought publicity with his theories and directed his energies not just towards his colleagues but directly to the public. This often brought him into conflict with the English Royal College of Physicians and the General Medical Council, both of which disapproved of his spreading controversial ideas to the laymen, and his development of commercial side-projects such as selling books.
In 1892, they'd had enough. Under the motto "Health Without Medicine", Allinson started The Natural Food Company in that year. The purpose of the company was to sell healthy foods. For this purpose, Allinson had bought a grain mill in Bethnal Green for the production of whole grain meal using stone-grinders (as mass-produced meal is produced by roller milling). A bakery came shortly afterwards. Because running a food company wasn't considered a job for a doctor, the Royal College of Physicians took him out of their register. He could no longer practise.
During World War I, the food value of whole grain bread was recognised. Allinson was offered the right to re-join the medical registry, but he refused. His company flourished from the increased demand for whole-grain bread and meal. After his death, the company grew (two more stone-grinding mills were purchased in Newport, Monmouthshire and in 1921 Castleford, Yorkshire). The mills stand to this day.
Bread
Allinson's original bread recipe (100% whole grain flour, no fat, less yeast, more water) is still used today, though some lovers of Allinson bread report that it's not as hearty nowadays as it used to be.[2] The advertising slogan for the brand since the 1980s is "Bread wi' nowt taken out".
References