Timeline of Bread

Timeline of Bread :

Around 10,000 BC, people first began to eat a crude form of flat bread - baked mixture of flour and water.

Ancient Egyptians believed to be the first to have baked leavened (raised) bread. Around 3000 BC, they started fermenting a flour and water mixture by using wild yeast which was present in the air. Since wheat is the only grain with sufficient gluten content to make raised or leavened bread, wheat was soon preferred over other grains grown at the time, such as oats, millet, rice and barley. The workers who built the pyramids in Egypt were paid in bread.

The Egyptians also developed ovens can bake more bread at the same time. Bread for the rich was made from wheat flour, bread to those who were wealthy was made of barley and bread to the poor was made from sorghum.

In 150 BC, was the first baker's guild formed in Rome. Wealthy Romans insisted on the more exclusive and expensive white bread. Roman bakeries produced a series of bread and distributed free bread to the poor in times of need.

In 1202 AD, England adopted laws to regulate the price of bread and reducing bakery profits. Many bakers were prosecuted for selling bread that did not correspond to the weights required by local laws. As a result of the "bread trials" in England in 1266, bakers were ordered to mark each bread, so if a non-conforming loaf appeared, the baker could be found. Bakers' marks were among the first trademarks.

Although the Egyptians and Romans and later bakers made leavened bread, it was not until the 1800s, the yeast was identified as a plant-like organism. Yeast converts carbohydrates into alcohol, producing carbon dioxide in the process, which is a maturing gas.

By 1850, the United States had 2,017 bakeries, employing over 6700 staff.

The 1928 invention and introduction of the commercial bread slicer was soon followed by the introduction of the automatic toaster. Toast consumption increased as a result of both inventions. But in 1943, prohibited the U.S. Department of Agriculture sale of sliced bread in an attempt to keep prices low in an era of wartime rationing.

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, bread was selected as the basis for a diet enrichment program in the U.S. Diseases such as pellagra, beriberi, and anemia had become widespread. These diseases were associated with a deficiency of B vitamins and iron. Since bread was a daily food item for most Americans, even those with poor diet, certain quantities of iron, thiamine, niacin, riboflavin and were added to white flour. This enrichment program was an important factor in the elimination of pellagra and beriberi in the United States, and reducing anemia among Americans. In 1998, folic acid, an essential nutrient in preventing serious birth defects, was added to all enriched grain foods, including bread.

In 1910, Americans were each eating about 210 pounds of wheat flour each year. That dropped to a historic low of 110 pounds in 1971, but has grown steadily since then. In 1997, American wheat flour consumption per person 150 pounds. In contrast, each Egyptians eat about 385 pounds of wheat each year.

Wheat is primarily composed of complex carbohydrates, which provide a source of time-released energy. Since 1990, the U.S. dietary guidelines recommend that Americans eat 6 to 11 servings of bread and other grain foods every day.