Why modern sandwich bread is different from 'real' bread

[Midnightmom]

 

 

 

[euphrasyne]

Eh....I have made a LOT of bread.   It only gets hard like that if you leave it out.  If you cover it or put it in a ziplock bag, it will stay soft for several days.   My brown bread never gets hard...just molds after about 5 days.  Also bread made with water will be a lot harder than bread made with milk.  That is why crusty & hard vs soft. 

 

The ingredient and science spiel seems spot on though.  Very interesting.  

[Ambergris]

I just the other day heard that in France, our fast food buns are not legally allowed to be called "bread." 

[euphrasyne]

Hamburger and hotdog buns have the same basic recipe as sandwich bread--they are just shaped differently with different bake times.  The French rule about bread says a lot more about the elitism of bread in France than it does about ingredients in the US.  French markets are not allowed to sell frozen bread, must make homemade bread on the premises they are sold,  and cannot use the word bread except for very narrow items.  That is why you will see them selling 'rosemary loaves' etc instead of bread there.  French bread may not contain liquids other than water and may not contain spices.  It is an extremely rigid law about what bread is allowed to be called in France.  

 

This page will need to be translated, but it outlines all the major points and is basically the French version of USA.gov

Decree No. 93-1074 of 13 September 1993 adopted for the application of the Law of 1 August 1905 with regard to certain categories of bread - Légifrance (legifrance.gouv.fr)

Edited May 23, 2022 by euphrasyne

[Mother]

3 hours ago, euphrasyne said:

It is an extremely rigid law about what bread is allowed to be called in France.  

it seems the ‘food dictocrats’ are alive and well in France as well as the US.