Bread Q&A: What Kind of Bread is Good for You & Other Questions

For a food as simple as bread, there are lots of questions about it! What kind of bread should I eat? How many kinds are there? Who came up with that whole sliced bread thing? Here are a few answers:

 

What kind of bread is good for you?

The key with picking out a healthy loaf is the ingredients. If the label says it has whole grains and seeds, then you are getting the most vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein that can be packed into bread. There are also breads that have lower amounts of sugar. However, generally speaking, bread won’t hurt you!

 

Will eating a loaf of bread a day for 90 days make me fat?

Maybe, it depends on what you are sandwiching between the slices.  Are you slathering gobs of Nutella on every slice? Or buttering each slice? Or eating 8 tuna fish sandwiches every day? Or spending your days munching on peanut butter and banana sandwiches?  Or crafting super cheesy grilled cheese sandwiches? The kind of bread influences some things as well.

 

How many types of bread are there?

There are endless varieties of bread. New forms of yeasty deliciousness are dreamed up by bakers all the time. Grocery stores typically have over 50 different varieties of bread on their shelves at all times.  And that doesn’t include in-store bakeries.

 

What proves that bread is a staple of our diet?

Because of all the common expressions that involve bread.  When we are not eating it, we are talking about it.  Think about how many sayings have risen out of our obsession. No matter how you slice it…breadwinner…bread as another word for money…asking which side is your bread buttered on…and the list goes on.

 

How long has bread been around?

Bread has been around since the Egyptians invented a grinding stone to crush wheat into flour. Historians believe that the idea of combining yeast with the flour and other ingredients happened accidentally when a pot of hot wheat cereal was left over night and yeast naturally developed.

 

When did bread start rising in popularity?

Bread got its lucky break with the invention of the sandwich in the mid 1700s when John Montagu, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, summoned his chef to put his steak between two slabs of bread so he only needed one hand to eat his dinner so he could keep playing cards and gambling with his friends.

 

Who invented sliced bread?

Sliced bread has probably been around since it was first baked in loaves.  An official bread slicing machine was invented in 1912 in Iowa. And it took about 15 years after that in Missouri to set up the first production line for bread that included baking uniform sized loaves, slicing them, and bagging them for easy transporting and sales.

 

What do the colored tags mean?

Bread is delivered to grocery stores five days a week and the plastic tags are color coded by the day the bread was baked. The colors are alphabetized to correspond with the days of the week, so Monday is Blue, Tuesday is Green, Thursday is Red, Friday is White, and Saturday is Yellow. Now you know what to look for when you want to buy the freshest bread at the store.

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