Hacker News Reader

Comment by BoorishBears | Hacker News Reader

I’ve noticed a pattern of Europeans getting food items that are the made of the cheapest of the cheap ingredients, almost to the point of being mislabeled and using them as a benchmark for what “American food” is like.

For example, 99 cent gas station white bread loaf taste like cake to Americans too. A 1.50$ loaf at a grocery store tastes much more normal for a nominal difference.

A “snack cake” also tastes like sugar mixed with liquified sugar to Americans. It might be called “cake” but Americans treat it like candy for all intents and purposes.

View on HN

Ingredient list for the top selling brand of bread in the US:

Unbleached Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Water, Honey, Sugar, Wheat Gluten, Whole Wheat Flour, Rye Flour, Wheat Bran, Contains 2% or Less of Each of the Following: Yeast, Soy Flour, Salt, Soybean Oil, Dough Conditioners (Contains One or More of the Following: Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Calcium Stearoyl Lactylate, Monoglycerides, Mono- and Diglycerides, Distilled Monoglycerides, Calcium Peroxide, Calcium Iodate, DATEM, Ethoxylated Mono- and Diglycerides, Enzymes, Ascorbic Acid), Cultured Wheat Flour, Vinegar, Calcium Sulfate, Yeast Food (Ammonium Sulfate), Monocalcium Phosphate, Soy Lecithin, Calcium Carbonate.

I feel just posting the ingredients list is a bit misinforming as it would appear to be mostly sugar. For those who may be unaware - ingredients lists are supposed to be in order of most->least used ingredients. So 2 of the top 4 ingredients for this bread are sugar (honey and sugar) and the other 2 are the ingredients for bread...

Based on a Google search I think the brand of bread you selected was Nature's Own Honey Wheat Bread [0]. Which, per slice, is 2 grams of sugar. A good comparison might be Warbutons [1] - based on another quick Google search - as it seems to be the top selling brand of bread in the UK. I'm not sure how ingredient lists are required to be ordered in the U.K but the sugar content is nearly half - 1.2 grams of sugar per slice for the first result I got of their product.

But for a more fair comparison let's select Warbuton's Golden Wheat [2] since I feel that's the closest equivalent to Nature's Own Honey Wheat that Warbuton's has, seeing as these items are both wheat bread with honey. Warbuton's Golden Wheat contains 2 grams of sugar per slice. Equivalent to that of Nature's Own.

I assumed you were trying to single out the U.S for having sugary bread, but if I've misinterpreted the meaning of your post feel free to correct me.

TL;DR

Namebrand-popular U.K bread isn't any better than Namebrand-popular U.S bread when it comes to sugar content.

[0] https://www.instacart.com/whole-foods/products/16658256-natu...

[1] https://www.warburtons.co.uk/products/bread/white/800g-mediu...

[2] https://www.warburtons.co.uk/products/bread/wholemeal-brown/...

Best selling means they have the most volume under one name. It doesn’t mean most bread the average American eats is like that.

If you go to the average grocery store around here there is at least half of an entire aisle stocked with at least 20 brands of fresh bread from smaller scale bakers and even the store itself. And that’s excluding the additional shelf or two they usually have for national brand extra cheap breads like the type you describe.

Im guessing if you name the brand it’s going to be something I’m likely to find at a dollar store or a gas station as opposed to something that’s be in the section for fresh bread.

Fun fact: Walmart stores that don’t have a grocery section still carry bread, but mostly the type you describe.

Walmart’s with a grocery sell bread baked fresh daily in-store, and have dozens of types of bread from whole wheat to artisanal breads that you wouldn’t believe came from a Walmart.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com