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Bread is Back!
The Facts
- A recent survey of more than 2,000 American adult consumers found that 50 percent of those surveyed indicate that they "love eating bread" and 50 percent say they "eat bread almost every day."
Harris Interactive for the Grain Foods Foundation
- Bread sales in January 2005 were up 2.8 percent over January 2004.
Information Resources, Inc.
- In November 2004, 3.6 percent of polled Americans were following diets that focused on cutting carbohydrates, down from 9.1 percent in February 2004.
NPD Group data
- Industry groups and baked-goods companies launched $3.5 million campaign called Grains for L.I.F.E. (Longevity, Intelligent eating, Fitness and Energy) in February 2005. The tagline is "Bread. It's Essential."
For More About Bread Online…
Facts About Bread
- The average American consumes approximately 60 pounds of bread each year.
- Eighty percent of Americans mistakenly believe that bread is fattening, yet the average slice of packaged bread only contains eighty calories.
- November is National Bread Month in the U.S. due to the celebration of Thanksgiving and the significance of bread in American history, culture and daily diet.
- Bread is highly nutritious, providing more protein, iron, B vitamins and complex carbohydrates per penny than any other food!
- Nearly every person on earth eats bread in one form or another.
- The longest loaf of bread ever baked was 9,200 meters long; that is nearly 30,184 feet! It was produced by a baker in Acapulco, Mexico in 1996.
- The Egyptians discovered fermentation and invented baking ovens.
- The Midwest of the United States is known as the "bread basket" feeding the world.
- Three U.S. cities are named "Sandwich" including: Sandwich, Ill.; Sandwich, Mass.; and Sandwich, N.H.
- Nearly 50 percent of all bread is used to build sandwiches.
- The term sandwich commemorates the Earl of Sandwich, a famous gambler, who found a slice of meat between two slices of bread could be eaten with one hand and without having to leave the gambling table for a meal.
- In 1894, the first Club sandwich was served at an exclusive all-male gaming club in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
- Many food historians credit Omaha, Neb., as the place where the Reuben sandwich was born in 1925. A grocer designed the sandwich as a snack for card players. Another source says the Reuben was invented in 1914 by Arnold Reuben, a Manhattan deli owner.
- The phrase "baker's dozen" - meaning 13, not 12 - was coined in the Middle Ages when there were problems with bakers cheating their customers by producing under-sized loafs.
- The secret ingredient that makes bread rise is yeast and bread must rise twice, first for 60 to 90 minutes, then it's punched back down and set in a warm place for another 60 to 90 minutes. All this before actually baking the bread!
- A family of four can live off the bread produced by one acre of wheat for ten years!
- Once, a person's social status could be determined by the color of bread they ate. The darker the bread, the lower the social class. Whiter flours were more expensive and harder to dilute with other products. White bread makers and brown bread makers formed separate guilds. Today it is the reverse, with darker bread being more expensive and highly regarded for nutritional value and taste.
- In 1929 scientists identified the benefits of whole meal flour and bread, but this did not change the United States' preference for white bread.
- In 1963 Bread and Flour Regulations were introduced in the U.S., governing the composition and additives permitted in bread and flour.
- In the U.S., bread is considered a gift of friendship and is a symbol of unity for families and friends. The expression "breaking bread together" means sharing friendship, peace and goodwill.
- Bread is used in many cultures to commemorate milestones such as births, weddings and deaths.
Bread Superstitions
- Whomever eats the last piece of bread has to kiss the cook
- It is bad luck to turn a loaf of bread upside down or cut an unbaked loaf
- If you burn bread it means your sweetheart is angry with you
- To prevent ghosts from calling, leave bread and coffee under a house
- Eating bread baked by a woman whose maiden name is the same as her married name is a cure for many illnesses
- If all the bread is eaten, the next day will be good
- If you put a piece of bread in a baby's cradle, it will keep away disease
- Murphy's Law dictates that buttered bread will always land buttered-side down
- Cutting bread in an uneven manner is a sign that you have been telling lies
- When a couple is walking down the street holding hands and an obstacle comes between them, say "bread and butter" to keep the union until the hands meet again
- A loaf of bread should never be turned upside down after a slice has been cut from it
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