In Victorian London most of the bakers also adulterated their flour to make cheaper, whiter bread. (Bread was the main staple food, consumed in large quantities

In Victorian London most of the bakers also adulterated their flour to make cheaper, whiter bread. (Bread was the main staple food, consumed in large quantities by most people.) Adulterants included plaster of Paris, bean flour, chalk, ground-up bone, and in particular alum, which caused all sorts of health problems.