A survey by 60 millions de consommateurs highlights the presence of additives in bread, from supermarkets and bakeries. How to choose the right bread and to be sure of its composition?
A little history….
As old as wheat, bread first had a sacred dimension before being considered a noble food based on real know-how. In the 1950s, the industrialization of bread led to the development of new methods of kneading and the addition of additives for a softer and whiter bread. Bakers reacted to European legislation that allowed more and more additives in the 1980s. The « Bread Decree » is the first milestone in French traditional bread legislation in order to preserve know-how and quality.
So what breads?
Leavened bread and traditional French bread have a well-defined list of ingredients. In other words, their composition complies with specifications that do not allow room for processing aids other than fungal amylase or adjuvants other than bean, soya and wheat malt flour, gluten and deactivated yeast. Bread is based on basic ingredients: flour, salt, water, yeast or yeast. Adjuvants are necessary to improve the properties of flour and bread in the long term (aeration of the dough, colouring during cooking), while processing aids (present in residual quantities in the finished product) are used to facilitate the kneading, fermentation and shaping stages.
For problems of appearance and conservation of the bread, but also in order to simplify the baker’s work, a wide range of breads have been introduced in our bakeries. These breads, with different names, have a much less strict specification, leaving room for more additives.
So if you are looking for the baguette, the real one, ask for a baguette de tradition!
The baguette, a French heritage that lasts
Proposed to UNESCO’s French intangible heritage, the French baguette is indeed a product that is difficult to find after crossing the border. A heritage that seems to be rather well transmitted in view of the start-ups that are emerging in the bakery sector. For example, the start-up DuBonPain lists the artisanal bakeries around you to find your traditional bread, and the start-up French Baguette sells kits to make its bread all over the world!
New breads are being created, by integrating trendy ingredients such as this bread with insect flour, or by developing health benefits such as in the Multifibre Biota Mie.
