YOUR BUSINESS IS OUR BUSINESS: All breads, white or brown, have holes!

I just read somewhere that mixing bread-baking flour is still done by foot in some parts of the world! In fact, I’ve seen pictures of this being done – with barefooted ‘mixers’ merrily going about the task…

Shouldn’t they wear some ‘protective/preventive’ material when trampling underfoot the mix – much like the mittens prudently worn at work by ‘professionals’ like Medical Workers, Ditch Diggers, Washroom/Toilet Cleaners, Garbage Collectors…?

I know from personal experience in the early 1950s that this was done at the ‘Kwa Babu’ bakery in Moshi on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro!’

But, using our feet to mix baking flour in this day and age is astounding! Anyway, that’s a story for another time. Today, it’s about the ‘merits and demerits/defects’ of brown bread vis-à-vis white bread…

For starters: ‘bread is a baked and leavened food made of a mixture whose basic constituent is flour or meal.’

Generally, ‘white bread’ is made from wheat flour from which the bran and the germ have been removed from the whole wheat berry in the grinding/milling processes. This also removes the natural oils from the whole grain – leaving a ‘light-coloured/white’ flour used to make products that have little potential for rancidity and, therefore,

longer shelf-life… Good for traders, I say! ‘Brown bread’ often designates breads made with significant amounts of whole grain flour – usually wheat – and, sometimes, dark-coloured ingredients such as molasses or coffee! [But, in Canada, the UK and South Africa, ‘brown bread’ simply refers to wholemeal or whole wheat bread – except in the Maritimes, where it’s made with molasses! Get it? I don’t; I’ve never been to those places! But, no matter… In any case, experts tell us, “while white bread may have longer shelf-life, brown bread made from whole wheat flours that contain raw wheat germ – instead of toasted germ – have higher levels of glutathione and, thus, result in lower loaf volumes!” [Bad for traders, I say]!

They also reveal that “the flour used in making white breads may be bleached – thus lightened further – by the use of chemicals such as potassium bromate, azodicarbonamide or chlorine dioxide gas to remove any slight, natural yellow shade. This may make its baking properties more predictable… But, then, certain flour-bleaching agents are banned in some countries!”

All the foregoing – and much, much more – is in the public domain, readily accessible via the ubiquitous Internet… What may not be so ubiquitous, so correct, or so authoritative are claims here and there that…

A few examples of these are that: ‘brown bread is more expensive than white bread because the former isn’t carcinogenic (producing or inciting cancer)… That ‘white bread’s baked from flour that’s been chemically-treated to remove the natural brownness in the flour – and is, therefore, cancer-producing/inducing/inciting!’

‘That white bread’s clean’ (presumably on the assumption that anything ‘white’ is clean, with the corollary that brown bread’s ‘dirty!’ Incidentally, brown bread was shunned in early 19th century Europe…!

There’ve been several Studies on ‘bread colours.’ One reportedly found ‘‘white bread just as healthy as brown bread for some people.’ [ June 7, 2017].

‘Processed white bread … is often shunned by health experts due to its low nutritional value. However, there may be little difference in how white and brown bread affect the body…’ [The Independent Online].

‘Some people’s blood sugar levels may not react to white bread same as others; i.e.: some people respond badly to white bread – and should probably avoid it – while others have a healthy response to it…’ [Cell Metabolism Journal. June 6, 2017].

Oh… seems the Battle Lines are drawn between Science (researchers) and Business (traders)… Meanwhile, we should continue to eat the bread, brown or white – but leaving out the holes! Please pass the bread, holes or no holes! After all, today is Freedom From Hunger Day…’… Cheers!