The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Subway bread?

dlassiter's picture
dlassiter

Subway bread?

As you may have heard, Ireland has declared that the bread that is used in Subway sandwiches isn't really bread, because it has 10% sugar. Anything more than 2% sugar by weight is candy, I guess. Hard to conceive of a bread with that much sugar. When I look at the ingredient list for their bread, presumably ordered by content, sugar, or sugar-containing constituents are not really up-front. So what's the deal? I maybe have a Subway sandwich once a year, and never because of the bread. That being the case, it is nevertheless somewhat stunning how much sugar regular commercial breads contain.

https://www.insider.com/breads-high-in-sugar-2018-11#the-cheesecake-factorys-famous-brown-bread-has-about-the-same-amount-of-sugar-as-a-nibble-of-chee...

 

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

It's merely enriched... like brioche or challah or Hawaiian bread.

Sugar, at least in some amount, is usually added to bread containing whole wheat.

Does Subway's white bread also contain as much sugar?

--

besides, that's what fast food and junk food is:  fat, sugar, salt.

 

dlassiter's picture
dlassiter

As I said, there are many commercial breads that have loads of sugar. Challah doesn't have that much, that's for sure. I make it regularly. I guess I'd call Hawaiian bread and brioche large sweet rolls.

suave's picture
suave

There are many breads that have loads of sugar, period.

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

( BTW, Two  challah recipes I just looked up have sugar at 10% of flour weight. One on TFL, and one in Greenstein's book.)

That article at insider.com is confusing to read due to incorrect math, and non-standard grammar. 

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

Here's a better article.  The Irish law is about baker's %, a percentage of the flour. And it describes Subway's white bread.

Not surprisingly, it revolves around taxing items that have more than 2% sugar.

As they say "follow the money." ;-)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/01/irish-court-rules-subway-bread-is-not-bread

The clincher was the act’s strict provision that the amount of sugar in bread “shall not exceed 2% of the weight of flour included in the dough”.

and

Subway’s bread, however, contains five times as much sugar. Or, as the supreme court put it: “In this case, there is no dispute that the bread supplied by Subway in its heated sandwiches has a sugar content of 10% of the weight of the flour included in the dough.”

dlassiter's picture
dlassiter

My challah is 5% sugar. I'm sure you can find recipes with a lot more. Point is, you don't NEED 10% sugar.

Boy, I just brought this up as a interesting topic for discussion. But if you want to argue, I'm outta here.

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

Sorry, man.  I thought I was just continuing the discussion. I meant no disrespect to you.

yozzause's picture
yozzause

I think the main part of the story is that they can no longer get away with calling it a staple food with no tax involved and if they wish to continue with that amount of sugar will attract a tax of over 13% 

whm1974's picture
whm1974

So what kind of bread would call this type of loaf? Like buy this at a bakery?

I like to eat this sliced lengthwise and dipped in melted butter. BTW I will go out of my way to get whole grain breads...