Choose a traditional Soreen malt loaf if you want a soft, fruited snack, but do not treat its malt ingredients as proof of wholemeal flour. If wholemeal flour is essential, M&S Wholemeal Farmhouse Loaf is explicitly made with it, although it is bread rather than fruited malt loaf. Tesco Hi Fibre Malted Loaf offers a malty bread alternative with 7.5g fibre per 100g, but its ingredient list starts with wheat flour rather than wholemeal flour.
If wholemeal flour matters more than the familiar fruited texture, look at explicitly wholemeal bread. M&S describes its Wholemeal Farmhouse Loaf as made with wholemeal flour; Soreen’s Original and Sliced malt loaves list fortified wheat flour instead.
Soreen’s sliced malt loaf keeps the soft, fruited format and gives nutrition for a 26.3g slice. That makes the labelled serving easier to identify when deciding how much to have late at night.
If a malted bread is an acceptable alternative, compare fibre on the same basis. Tesco lists 7.5g per 100g for Hi Fibre Malted Loaf, while M&S lists 6.2g per 100g for Wholemeal Farmhouse Loaf; only the latter is explicitly described here as made with wholemeal flour.
Choose it when: Wholemeal flour is a firm requirement; M&S Wholemeal Farmhouse Loaf explicitly uses it alongside malted ingredients.
Trade-off: It is bread, not a soft, raisin-rich malt loaf.
Choose it when: The soft, fruited malt-loaf format is more important to you than a wholemeal-flour declaration.
Trade-off: Soreen’s Original and Sliced ingredient lists start with fortified wheat flour, not wholemeal flour.
Choose it when: You want a malty bread and will compare the declared fibre figure rather than require wholemeal flour.
Trade-off: Tesco Hi Fibre Malted Loaf lists wheat flour first, so its fibre figure does not establish it as wholemeal.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Wholemeal flour | Look for wholemeal wording and wholemeal flour in the ingredients. Malt ingredients, loaf colour and a fibre claim do not establish wholemeal status. | I want wholemeal flour specifically, even if that means choosing bread instead of fruited malt loaf. |
| Fibre | Compare figures per 100g before looking at slices of different sizes. Tesco lists 7.5g for Hi Fibre Malted Loaf, M&S lists 6.2g for Wholemeal Farmhouse Loaf and Soreen lists 3.3g for Original Malt Loaf. | A malty flavour appeals to me, but I am flexible about loaf type and want to compare the declared fibre figures. |
| Portion and sweetness | Check the labelled serving weight and sugars for the amount you plan to eat. Soreen lists 4.2g sugars per 26.3g slice of Sliced Malt Loaf; toppings add to the snack as served. | For a late snack, I would rather judge the portion I will actually have than assume one slice means the same thing across loaves. |
| Ingredients and allergens | Read the current ingredients and precautionary allergen statement. The Soreen and Tesco products discussed here contain wheat and barley; Tesco also gives a precautionary statement for other allergens. | I need to check particular ingredients or allergen warnings before choosing, regardless of whether a loaf is described as vegan or high in fibre. |
Malt ingredients appear in products whose ingredient lists start with fortified wheat flour or wheat flour. Neither a dark appearance nor a declared fibre figure settles the wholemeal question.
If wholemeal flour is required, check both the product wording and the flour named in its current ingredients.
A slice of Soreen Sliced Malt Loaf is listed as 26.3g, while Tesco’s Hi Fibre Malted Loaf uses a 40g slice for its serving figures. Slice figures therefore describe different quantities.
Use per-100g figures for comparison, then check the nutrition for the portion you expect to eat.
Soreen’s malt-loaf ingredients include wheat and barley. A vegan description does not replace the ingredient and allergen information needed by someone avoiding those cereals.
Read the current pack’s ingredients and allergen statement for the particular product.
Butter or a sweet topping changes the snack from the plain loaf described by its nutrition label.
Decide how you will serve the loaf, then use the labelled portion as the starting point for the amount you intend to eat.
These examples illustrate different loaf types; a retailer listing is not a substitute for checking the current product label.
A reference for the traditional soft, fruited malt-loaf format.
Its Hi Fibre Malted Loaf is a malted-bread alternative to fruited malt loaf.
Wholemeal Farmhouse Loaf is a bread option when wholemeal flour takes priority over fruited malt-loaf texture.
No1 Triple Malt Sourdough is another malted-bread format, made with a levain starter and seeds.
Its listing for Soreen Original Malt Loaf provides a portion reference and storage instructions for the traditional product.
This Ryvita crispbread is a different snack format for readers willing to move beyond malt loaf. It does not offer the soft, fruited loaf or the wholemeal malted bread discussed above.
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Consider this crispbread only if you are happy to replace a soft, fruited malt loaf with a different snack format. The pack is 250g; check its current ingredients and nutrition label if wholegrain content or fibre is central to your choice.
Its listed ingredients start with fortified wheat flour and do not name wholemeal flour. If wholemeal flour is essential, choose a product that identifies it in both its description and current ingredients rather than relying on the word “malt”.
Not necessarily. Soreen Original is a soft, fruited loaf containing raisins and malt ingredients, while M&S Wholemeal Farmhouse is bread made with wholemeal flour and malted ingredients. Choose according to whether the flour or the fruited texture matters more to you.
Start with fibre per 100g, then check the quantity you will eat. Tesco lists 7.5g per 100g for Hi Fibre Malted Loaf, M&S lists 6.2g for Wholemeal Farmhouse Loaf and Soreen lists 3.3g for Original Malt Loaf; their slice and serving sizes differ.
Check the current ingredients and allergen statement for the specific loaf. The Soreen malt loaves and Tesco Hi Fibre Malted Loaf discussed here contain wheat and barley, and Tesco also carries precautionary wording for other allergens.
Sainsbury’s listing for the 390g loaf says to keep it in a cool, dry place and eat it within two days of opening or freeze it. Follow the instructions on the pack you buy, particularly if its storage directions differ.