Do the ingredients not have strange, synthetic additives?
They do not, each ingredient has to list everything that went into the product you get, and it will say only the stuff you want. If you buy a bag of flour, it will say (type) flour, and maybe give you the average protein content of the flour. If you buy a spice it will say the only ingredient is that spice. So, smaller scale bakers, as in not the “bakeries” in places like Walmart, will not have any of that in their food. If there is something that is heavily processed, in a not traditional manner, it will usually be an aspect that stands out, and you can simply ask them about what they use, like coloring in icing. If they make bread, they make normal bread, that will harden over night, and start molding in a couple days. A lot of places like this will also be happy to explain exactly how they make their products too, as they know that information can be crucial due to allergies, cultural stuff, etc. Most bakeries I know, now, exclusively use coloring that come from juices, spices, herbs, etc., that have vibrant colors. The trade-off is that they will not stay that vibrant for more than a day or two. If you request abnormal colors that are not sourced that way, they will inform you that they will have to use a dye that may be synthetic. I realize this isn’t everywhere, but I live in a small, dying, rust belt, city, so if I can get this kind of service, it should be fairly common outside of truly rural places. Though you might have to leave your suburb to get something in the city.
If you buy a bag of flour, it will say (type) flour, and maybe give you the average protein content of the flour.
The bags of flour I find usually list more, typically something like
Bleached Wheat Flour, Niacin (a B vitamin), Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate (vitamin B1), Riboflavin (vitamin B2), Enzymes, Folic Acid (a B vitamin)
After the common milling process tempers the grain, separates constituents through rollers & sieves to extract flour from endosperm, with coarser constituents (bran & germ) optionally ground up & reintroduced, it’s usually far removed from its natural state.
Mills have existed for millennia.
Salt may often include an “anti-caking agent”.
Ingredients for baker’s yeast may include some unfamiliar chemical compounds.
Baking soda & sugar aren’t naturally found in the states they’re used for baking.
Oil is often pressed from some seed & filtered.
They’ve all been prepared in controlled conditions that yield an unnaturally pure state.
Unless the bakers are sourcing unbroken wheat & raw ingredients, then mashing it themselves into something ancient Mesopotamians might have made, they’re probably starting from some highly processed ingredients.
Nutrition resources linked in other comments typically identify bread as highly processed.
A lot of places like this will also be happy to explain exactly how they make their products too, as they know that information can be crucial due to allergies, cultural stuff,
Processed ingredients can be okay with all these things, too.
While the bakery bread could be better in some way (we could be wrong), a word like “processed” explains it poorly.
I get your point that the word means something.
I took claims regarding processed food seriously, then found the idea unsustainable when close examination indicates nearly any prepared food we’d consider healthy also classifies as processed, sometimes highly.
While some types of processing are unhealthy, there ought to be better ways to identify them.
As you said bleached white flour has been a thing for a very long time, it is considered traditional, people generally don’t include things that have been common for millennia when they think of “ultra-processed”, I actually mentioned this in previous comments. The only other ingredients are vitamins/minerals, you definitely can get bread that isn’t enriched, but again, very few people believe adding a couple common vitamins to basic food is “ultra-processing”.
Also, depending on how into bread your bakery is, some do get unprocessed wheat corn and work it to the product they want, though I have only seen these in major cities, that can support boutique bakeries, that have Michelin stars . Most will offer non-white flour options that are significantly less processed, and multiple different levels of processing, for the various specific type of bread they are making.
They do not, each ingredient has to list everything that went into the product you get, and it will say only the stuff you want. If you buy a bag of flour, it will say (type) flour, and maybe give you the average protein content of the flour. If you buy a spice it will say the only ingredient is that spice. So, smaller scale bakers, as in not the “bakeries” in places like Walmart, will not have any of that in their food. If there is something that is heavily processed, in a not traditional manner, it will usually be an aspect that stands out, and you can simply ask them about what they use, like coloring in icing. If they make bread, they make normal bread, that will harden over night, and start molding in a couple days. A lot of places like this will also be happy to explain exactly how they make their products too, as they know that information can be crucial due to allergies, cultural stuff, etc. Most bakeries I know, now, exclusively use coloring that come from juices, spices, herbs, etc., that have vibrant colors. The trade-off is that they will not stay that vibrant for more than a day or two. If you request abnormal colors that are not sourced that way, they will inform you that they will have to use a dye that may be synthetic. I realize this isn’t everywhere, but I live in a small, dying, rust belt, city, so if I can get this kind of service, it should be fairly common outside of truly rural places. Though you might have to leave your suburb to get something in the city.
The bags of flour I find usually list more, typically something like
After the common milling process tempers the grain, separates constituents through rollers & sieves to extract flour from endosperm, with coarser constituents (bran & germ) optionally ground up & reintroduced, it’s usually far removed from its natural state. Mills have existed for millennia.
Salt may often include an “anti-caking agent”. Ingredients for baker’s yeast may include some unfamiliar chemical compounds. Baking soda & sugar aren’t naturally found in the states they’re used for baking. Oil is often pressed from some seed & filtered. They’ve all been prepared in controlled conditions that yield an unnaturally pure state.
Unless the bakers are sourcing unbroken wheat & raw ingredients, then mashing it themselves into something ancient Mesopotamians might have made, they’re probably starting from some highly processed ingredients.
Nutrition resources linked in other comments typically identify bread as highly processed.
Processed ingredients can be okay with all these things, too.
While the bakery bread could be better in some way (we could be wrong), a word like “processed” explains it poorly.
I get your point that the word means something. I took claims regarding processed food seriously, then found the idea unsustainable when close examination indicates nearly any prepared food we’d consider healthy also classifies as processed, sometimes highly. While some types of processing are unhealthy, there ought to be better ways to identify them.
As you said bleached white flour has been a thing for a very long time, it is considered traditional, people generally don’t include things that have been common for millennia when they think of “ultra-processed”, I actually mentioned this in previous comments. The only other ingredients are vitamins/minerals, you definitely can get bread that isn’t enriched, but again, very few people believe adding a couple common vitamins to basic food is “ultra-processing”.
Also, depending on how into bread your bakery is, some do get unprocessed wheat corn and work it to the product they want, though I have only seen these in major cities, that can support boutique bakeries, that have Michelin stars . Most will offer non-white flour options that are significantly less processed, and multiple different levels of processing, for the various specific type of bread they are making.