When archaeologists were searching the deserts of Egypt, they stumbled on evidence of bread’s existence in the Mesopotamian ruins. It was quite a revelation, as it showed that humanity has been enjoying this food for more than 10000 years.
Historical evidence showed that it was a staple for people right from the Neolithic era, through its form and ingredients kept changing, from generation to generation and region to region. Medieval European warriors would reuse old thick bread crust as food bowls, with some cooked meat placed in the hollowed-out centre, while closer home parathas and naans were mainstays in every meal for royalty and the public at large.
Over the years, the insatiable demand for this staple saw the emergence of mass-produced pappy white sliced loaves, which continue to dominate most supermarkets and grocery stores shelves. However, with the wave of wellness sweeping the world, industrialised bread started getting a bad name.
Nutritionists urged consumers to read the packages, which often listed various enzyme improvers, extra gluten, fats, emulsifiers and other preservatives as their ingredients. Consumers who sought a healthy lifestyle started eliminating bread from their diet, worried it lacked any nutritional value.
Aditi Handa considers this to be a lamentable trend. The Co-Founder and Head Baker of The Baker’s Dozen, an artisan bakery brand, noted that this largely stems from ignorance about bread and its preparation. She hopes that the growing interest in varieties like sourdough, rye, flax, and oat will rekindle flour’s power.
Bread is ready-to-eat, pocket-friendly bakery food with a long shelf life. However, does it have enough fortification and nutritional value?
Bread is a humble food item made from simple ingredients like flour, water, salt and yeast (or a starter). For centuries bread was made using sourdough or a starter, making it very gut-friendly and helping one absorb all the nutrition in the bread.
Somewhere down the line, in the greed of wanting to eat so-called wholewheat bread, the narrative was corrupted by making something called brown bread. Most times, this brown bread is made from refined flour and gets its brown colour with the help of additives like molasses, caramel, etc. Bread is a highly perishable product, but using preservatives can have a longer shelf life of five to seven days.
At The Baker’s Dozen, we aim to bring back the original sourdough and ensure it reaches every home in India. We use 100% wholewheat and sourdough to make most of our bread and cakes. Not only does the starter make the bread very tasty but also extremely healthy. We have also invested in a German packaging technology that helps us naturally increase shelf life without preservatives.
How can chefs and bakers significantly improve bread’s nutritional profiles?
When made in the traditional way using authentic techniques, most food is very healthy for us to consume. As chefs, we can study these techniques and bring them to your table. We need to ensure we continuously do justice to this movement.
Nowadays, there are alternatives to many ingredients which are better from a nutritional perspective. Further, chefs should focus on critical components and make them healthier.
Given the increasing health concerns and changing lifestyles, how can bakers and chefs experiment with innovative ingredients to produce healthy and low-calorie products?
There are plenty of Indian and International ingredient manufacturing companies these days who have made some very innovative products using natural ingredients. These help address various health needs of gluten allergic, high protein, sugar-free, and similar requirements.
E.g. at The Baker’s Dozen, after extensive trials and research, we have eliminated maida from the majority of our bread and cakes and made them
100% wholewheat, significantly increasing the health quotient.
Many bakers claim their bread has reduced fat and sugar content and enhanced fibre content. How correct is this?
As long as the product labelling requirements are met from a legal point of view, it is acceptable to make these claims. The claims must be certified by an accredited lab and should meet the FSSAI labelling norms. E.g. mentioning ‘high fibre’ or ‘fibre rich’ needs the product to meet certain limits of fibre per serving to correspond to a certain percentage of the recommended daily allowance
How can they highlight these nutritional factors to guests?
Each baker is addressing a need they see necessary through their product. Some concentrate on hand-made, some on taste, some on health parameters. We each try to market ourselves on what is our USP. If a nutritional claim is the USP, it should be highlighted through the packaging and all marketing campaigns conceptualised for the product.
Most chefs and bakers are unaware of nutritional profiling. How can they leverage this to highlight the nutrients within baked products?
All chefs should understand the FSSAI and Legal Metrology
guidelines in terms of packaging labelling requirements to make specific nutritional claims. Studying these handbooks is mandatory.
Consuming multiple types of grains as part of our diet is essential. It can be in any form, whether it’s different types of roti, bread, porridge, etc. This also gives chefs a lot of creative freedom to play around with their recipes and develop innovative products.
Can a nutritional rating help with food labelling, which customers take a lot seriously regarding health claims?
The nutritional rating can be a potent tool but needs to be executed nationally through a verified body. Otherwise, it’s challenging to gain credibility and stand out on shelves. I feel that there is enough in all our pantries that are unhealthy and all we need to do is consume products from brands and farmers serving more authentic and honest products. Purely by doing this, the health benefits we can have are plenty.
