The history of sliced bread from baking innovation to kitchen staple

'Baking is always innovating, as it is a science as well as an art.'

Four pints of milk, chicken breasts, cheddar cheese, and a loaf of sliced bread – all popular staples on the average family’s shopping list.

But when walking down the bread aisle of your average supermarket it might be hard to believe that pre-sliced loafs have only been sold in the UK for less than a century.

Bread in all of its forms, from flatbreads to rolls, have been the cornerstone of humanity’s diet for thousands of years.

But are today’s shoppers taking the ease of grabbing a couple of slices out of a pack for a sarnie for granted?

The first commercial use of a bread slicing machine was at the Chillicothe Baking Company in Missouri, selling its first pre-sliced loafs on July 7, 1928.

The innovation didn’t make its way across the pond until the 1930s, when the Wonderloaf Bakery in north London installed their own machine in 1935.

And it’s fair to say that the humble loaf has continued to innovate in the almost 100 years since then.

Otto Frederick Rohwedder, the man who invented the first bread slicing machine, didn’t have an easy road to success. His first prototype, built in 1912, was destroyed in a fire, and it took him another 16 years to create a fully working machine.

By the 1950s, 20 years after the bread slicing machine came to the UK, more than 80% of bread sold was pre-sliced – and other innovations include the Chorleywood Bread process, which means dough is ready much quicker and allows loaves to be baked on an industrial scale.

Caroline Kenyon, Founder of the World Bread Awards, commented: ‘The thinking behind it [selling pre-sliced bread] was not only convenience but also that it made it quicker and easier to eat more! Clever marketing by the bakers.

‘Probably the next greatest innovation in bread baking was the invention of the Chorleywood Bread process in the 1960s – a way of producing bread dough on an industrial scale, with a number of additions such as yeast, fats and chemicals, which means the dough is ready to bake much faster.

‘More than 90% of bread consumed in the UK is made with a variation of this method.

‘This type of bread is now under question from those who support the Real Bread process where bread is made only from wheat, flour and salt, which many regard as much healthier and better for the gut.

‘Baking is always innovating, as it is a science as well as an art, reliant on understanding chemistry, using new grains, alternatives to sugar and oils rather than fats.’

While sliced bread originated in the US, UK bakers are quick to point out that our loaves are nutritionally superior.

The Federation of Bakers says bread made in the UK is significantly lower in fat and sugar than bread made in the US, with no trans-fats.

UK baked bread also has less salt but more fibre and other nutrients than its American counterpart, which they say is because our white flour is controlled by law via the Bread and Flour Regulations and is fortified with calcium, along with Iron, Niacin and Thiamin.

And from beans on toast to your lunchtime sarnie or a bread and butter pudding, bread is extremely versatile.

Bakery giant Warburtons says it sold more than 406million loaves in the last year, equating to almost 7billion slices.

Chairman Jonathan Warburton said: ‘The Warburtons family started baking bread almost 150 years ago in 1876, but our first slicing machines weren’t introduced to bakeries until the 1930s, over 50 years later – and we were pretty cutting-edge at the time! 

‘From our seeded loaves, to bloomers, to half and half and our best-selling loaf – the wax-wrapped white sliced Toastie, sliced bread is still a much-loved component of a balanced diet – nutritious, affordable, and convenient.

‘But over the years as consumer tastes have changed, the range of bakery products available on the shelves has changed too.

‘We have innovated throughout our history, but in particular in the last 10 years, launching products such as Thins, Bagels, Pittas, Thin Crumpets now being some of the most popular on the market. 

”We are innovating constantly, introducing new sliced bread ranges, and exciting bakery occasions products to continue to delight consumers for another 150 years!’

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