This paper from the British Medical Journal defines commercial bread as a highly processed food: Consumption of ultra-processed foods and cancer risk: results from NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort.
What’s more, supermarket bread and pastries come wrapped in plastic, their ingredients processed, bagged and shipped to bakeries in plastic containers where they are measured, transported, mixed and manipulated with ample plastic contact, and handled by employees with plastic-based gloves and and head coverings, all, wearing synthetic fabric aprons and shoe coverings while walking on flooring made of synthetic materials.
This offers frequent opportunities for the chemicals in the plastic to leach into the contents, and for the production of microplastics.
Further, commercially produced bread involves conveyor belts, plastic bins used for ingredients, mixing, and preparation for dough. Plastic loaf pans are used for dough in the rising stages.
The final insult is the fact that finished loaves go into plastic bags when still warm — something that encourages plastic chemicals to transfer to the bread.
Reduce because there’s no avoiding
Buying from small artisan bakery operations — such as those associated with the California Grain Campaign — have reduced their dependence on plastics and pack their product in brown paper bags. small batch.
In addition, consumers who enjoy baking can reduce their exposure buying from small batch flour sources such as and Grist & Toll, and by using only steel, glass and, wood mixing and baking materials.
That goes for using only glass flour containers with metal tops.
You can find many tips on plastics reduction at this link.
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