Why Bake Bread?
We love baking bread and love eating it even more! Bread is so simple too; a loaf can be made with just flour, water, yeast, salt. Why then, when one reads the ingredients of a loaf of store bought bread is there so much more? Calcium propionate, azodicarbonamide, soy lecithin, high fructose corn syrup, just to name a few. When food is mass produced, manufacturers are looking for ways to drive down costs and insure consistency. They have managed this with the use of chemicals and other additives. Let’s take a closer look at some of these additives.
Calcium Propionate: this is a preservative that helps keep bread from molding. Ever go on vacation and come home to forgotten bread in the bread drawer with no mold? This bread can go weeks without molding! Unfortunately, this preservative has been associated with allergic reactions, sleep problems, and restlessness in kids.
Azodicarbonamide: this is a chemical treatment to flour used to increase the speed of dough rising and to improve the strength and workability of the dough. Although it is considered safe by the FDA, it has been banned in CA as it was found to cause cancer in animals. It has also been linked to thyroid and kidney cancer and has been shown to cause asthma and allergic reactions.
Soy Lecithin and Soybean oil: Soybeans! Need I say more? Unless your soy products say ORGANIC then you can be assured it has been genetically modified. Lecithin is used as an emulsifier and the oil is just that. Manufacturers use these soy products because they are cheap! Unfortunately, it’s all about the bottom line, not about your health.
High Fructose Corn Syrup: This gives a toasty brown color to bread and helps it rise. Yeast needs a food source – sugar. Manufacturers love this because, again, it’s cheap! HFCS has been associated with hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and is a contributor to obesity.
These are just a few of the additives we frequently see in store bought bread but it’s more than enough to keep the health-conscious from buying it again. It’s a real challenge for a family to find quality and wholesome products that do not contain these additives. This is why we bake all our bread from hamburger buns to ciabatta rolls, from hardy whole wheat loaves to crusty French baguettes.
Calcium Propionate: this is a preservative that helps keep bread from molding. Ever go on vacation and come home to forgotten bread in the bread drawer with no mold? This bread can go weeks without molding! Unfortunately, this preservative has been associated with allergic reactions, sleep problems, and restlessness in kids.
Azodicarbonamide: this is a chemical treatment to flour used to increase the speed of dough rising and to improve the strength and workability of the dough. Although it is considered safe by the FDA, it has been banned in CA as it was found to cause cancer in animals. It has also been linked to thyroid and kidney cancer and has been shown to cause asthma and allergic reactions.
Soy Lecithin and Soybean oil: Soybeans! Need I say more? Unless your soy products say ORGANIC then you can be assured it has been genetically modified. Lecithin is used as an emulsifier and the oil is just that. Manufacturers use these soy products because they are cheap! Unfortunately, it’s all about the bottom line, not about your health.
High Fructose Corn Syrup: This gives a toasty brown color to bread and helps it rise. Yeast needs a food source – sugar. Manufacturers love this because, again, it’s cheap! HFCS has been associated with hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and is a contributor to obesity.
These are just a few of the additives we frequently see in store bought bread but it’s more than enough to keep the health-conscious from buying it again. It’s a real challenge for a family to find quality and wholesome products that do not contain these additives. This is why we bake all our bread from hamburger buns to ciabatta rolls, from hardy whole wheat loaves to crusty French baguettes.