How long does bread last?
The answer to this question depends on many factors such as the type of bread, how it was made, when it was baked and stored etc. The most common rule of thumb is that stale bread will lose its nutritional value within 6 months or less. However, there are other factors like storage conditions which could affect the shelf life even longer.
What is the shelf life of bread?
Bread is one of the oldest foods known to man. There are records from ancient Egypt dating back over 4500 years! Baking bread was considered a religious act in ancient Greece and Rome. During the Middle Ages, bread became popular among working class families because they were cheaper than meat pies and much tastier too!
Today, bread is still widely consumed throughout the world. A loaf of white bread typically costs between $1.00 and $2.00 per slice in supermarkets around the world. In some countries, such as China, bread is considered a staple food item with no refrigeration required (the same goes for vegetables).
These days, most bakeries use fresh doughs and yeast to make their loaves of bread fresh every day!
How long does bread last after it has been baked?
A loaf of bread can last for several days or even weeks in the right conditions. A fresh loaf is fully edible and at its best when consumed on the day of purchase. If the bread is to be stored, it should be kept in a freezer (freezing slows the staling process considerably) or sealed in a plastic bag.
How long does bread last in the freezer?
You can freeze the bread for up to 2 months. Defrost fully before use and remember to seal in a freezer bag or wrap in aluminium foil.
How long does bread last in the fridge?
Bread will stay fresh for at least 2 or 3 days when kept in the fridge. If the bread has a crust, you can keep it wrapped up in foil for up to a week.
How long does bread last unopened?
Most loaves of bread have a best before date of between 5 and 7 days. If you store the bread in a cool, dark and dry place, it should stay suitable for consumption beyond this date.
Interesting facts about bread
● The first sliced bread was invented by a baker called Otto Frederick Rohwedder in Missouri, USA in 1928.
● The world’s largest loaf of bread (a tyre) was baked in England in 2001. It had a diameter of 11 feet and was made from 2,000 kg of flour and 2,500 litres of water!
● There is a town in the USA called Painttown, which changed its name to Breadtown in the year 2000. The entire town is devoted to the production and sale of one thing – bread!
Sources & references used in this article:
Bread and the American Dream by W Graves – Western Humanities Review, 1980 – search.proquest.com
An in-store experiment on the effect of accessibility on sales of wholegrain and white bread in supermarkets by RA de Wijk, AJ Maaskant, IA Polet, NTE Holthuysen… – PLoS …, 2016 – journals.plos.org
Bread baking–A review by A Mondal, AK Datta – Journal of Food Engineering, 2008 – Elsevier
Bread & Oil: Majorcan Culture’s Last Stand by LG Price – 1982
Long-term effects of giving nursing home residents bread fortified with 125 μg (5000 IU) vitamin D3 per daily serving by T Graves – 2002 – books.google.com
… Place, and Bread and Water Her Only Support, Conveyed by Means of a Turning-Box, by Her Inhuman Husband; Whom She Saw but Once During Her Long … by V Mocanu, PA Stitt, AR Costan… – … American journal of …, 2009 – academic.oup.com
