High Street Loaf Health Ranking: Nutritionist Reveals Shocking Truths About Your Bread
A seemingly healthy loaf can be deceptively ultra-processed, packed with additives and surprisingly high in sugar and salt, a new examination reveals. A leading nutritionist has assessed popular loaves from major UK High Street retailers, exposing which breads live up to their wholesome image – and which are “half-baked” claims.
The ranking,conducted by Aidan,a nutritionist,scrutinised ingredient lists and nutritional facts,assigning each loaf a health score out of 10. The results are startling: even breads boasting seeds, grains, and pulses can be heavily manipulated with emulsifiers and other additives, pushing them firmly into the “ultra-processed” category. This comes as consumers increasingly seek healthier options and are willing to pay a premium for perceived nutritional benefits.
Here’s how popular loaves stacked up:
One loaf, featuring ted wheat flakes, pearl barley, poppy, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, received a health score of 3/10 despite its seemingly wholesome ingredients. Aidan noted the “softness is engineered with multiple emulsifiers, making it a proper ultra-processed food,” despite the ”useful fibre” from the wholemeal base and seeds.it contained a total of 21 ingredients.
Trendy tiger loaves, known for their distinctive crust, also scored a low 3/10, with 12 ingredients. Aidan criticised the use of “less-commonly seen additives such as I-cysteine for high-speed industrial processing,” stating it “isn’t ‘real’ bread.” The claim of being ‘baked in store’ was dismissed as potentially misleading, as the loaves may be frozen then finished in a supermarket oven.
A small loaf containing seeds, grains, and a blend of pulses (green split peas, broad beans, red split lentils and chickpeas) fared even worse, earning a 2/10 health score and boasting the highest ingredient count at 27.Aidan labelled it “great concept branding,” highlighting that its high protein content largely came from added wheat protein, not the pulses and seeds, and noting the presence of emulsifiers, palm oil and dextrose (a simple sugar).
a staple white loaf was deemed a “textbook ultra-processed food” with a score of 2/10.Containing 10 ingredients, it was found to be high in salt (0.98g per 100g) and sugar (3g per 100g),and relatively low in fibre (2.3g per 100g) compared to other breads.
