A new social media trend has revealed the disturbing truth about bread in the US, leaving Aussies reeling. Words by Ella McIlveen
In clips posted to TikTok, users can be seen squishing slices of bread into a ball, claiming it will “bounce back like memory foam” due to excessive additives.
And alas, after a couple of minutes the bread unravels itself and returns to its original form – pristine and intact.
@jenniferveronica37
Unsurprisingly, Aussies flooded the comment sections of the videos, expressing their horror at the sight.
“In Australia, when you put the bread in the shopping bag at the checkout, it always goes on top because once it’s squished, it’s forever squished,” wrote one.
“In Australia, when you spread Nutella on the slice you rip a hole in it,” said another.
“I’m Australian. I accidentally placed a box of tissues on my bread when leaving the grocery store and arrived home to a packet of pita bread,” wrote a third.
One US woman even found that bread left in her kitchen over eight months had failed to develop any mould.
Other Americans jumped in to share their thoughts on the bizarre sight.
“As an American who eats American bread, I’m never eating bread ever again,” said one horrified person.
“My bread doesn’t even mould anymore, I can’t remember the last time I saw it happen,” said another.
“Is our bread not supposed to do that?,” questioned a third.
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@msdee_931 No but why does the bread unfold itself now?!! #unfold #bread #fy
So naturally, I immediately ran to my kitchen to conduct my own experiment.
For my research, I used a slice of Helga’s wholemeal bread which, in this economy, should be considered a selfless act for the good of science.
Then I squished it into a ball which immediately crumpled the slice, leaving little breadcrumbs all over my counter.
The bread did eventually un-crumple after around three minutes, but the damage was done. It was certainly no longer screaming “eat me.”
So, now that we’ve reached that conclusion, it’s time to find out what the deal is with American bread.
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American bread is typically made using five food additives, these being: azodicarbonamide (whitening and dough conditioner, more famously found in yoga mats), potassium bromate and iodate (rising agents), BHA and BHT (preservatives).
Australia and much else of the world has imposed strict bans on azodicarbonamide, potassium bromate and iodate, which have been linked to cancer and asthma – but the US won’t budge.
Although wheat in the US isn’t genetically modified, the majority of non-organic crops are sprayed with glyphosate to dry out grain for earlier harvesting.
In 2020, global pharmaceutical giant Bayer spent $US10.9 billion ($15.87 billion) to settle over 90,000 lawsuits alleging the company’s glyphosate weedkiller, Roundup, causes cancer.
That same year, an Irish court ruled that the bread served at sandwich chain Subway could not be defined as bread but instead as confectionary, due to its high sugar content.
While it might be a blessing to some that their bread doesn’t grow mould or can survive a whole week’s grocery shop sitting on top of it – the trend has opened up a concerning conversation about the quality of food we receive.
Maybe the US has too much going on right now to consider its bread, but it’s definitely food for thought when the ingredients look more like they belong in a lab rather than on your plate.
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