Albert Cilia Vincenti (April 8) sounded rather miffed that a lady filled half the back page of this newspaper to talk about bread. Perhaps he would prefer the pearls of wisdom penned by the politicians.

Let me assure him that I am not a journalist and, furthermore, never intended to give any nutritional advice because I am not qualified to do so. I will leave that to other eminent bodies, such as him, to continue to guide the nation.

I would like to say that the title of the piece, Thank God For The Maltese Loaf, was chosen by The Times. Also, the whole point of the article was not an invitation to the rest of us to gorge ourselves on Maltese bread but to be conscious of what products are on the market, what they contain and to go for those that are the least harmful to our health.

That said, stating that Maltese bread is ‘”one of the major contributory factors to the high prevalence of Maltese obesity and type 2 diabetes” is incorrect unless it is backed up with statistics that prove that Maltese bread still constitutes a significant percentage of our daily intake of carbohydrates. Ultimately, it is up to the individual to decide on the amount of calories to consume.

The Italians do not demonise their precious pasta – which is equally fattening – by saying it is a major contributor to obesity. On the contrary, they glorify it, give it the status of a “national foodstuff” and claim that, if enjoyed in reasonable quantities, it should form part of the daily diet.

So my suggestion (not my advice – God forbid!) is that we should give more importance to what is in our food and direct our energies to lambasting unscrupulous food producers, naming and shaming them and then sourcing out the best food for ourselves and our families. And, yes, Maltese bread indeed!