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10,000 BCE
The beginning of bread (kind of)
People started to eat the first form of bread. They did it by baking the combination of flour and water. -
3000 BCE
The first use of yeast
The Egyptians started to ferment the flour and water mixture with dry yeast. This allowed the first form of leavened bread to be made. -
800 BCE
Greeks learn from Egyptians
The Ancient Greeks learned how to make bread from the Ancient Egyptians. This then caused bread to quickly spread throughout the rest of Europe. -
800 BCE
Animals do the milling
The Mesopotamians refined milling by using two flat, circular stones that were stacked on top of one another to grind the grain. The stones were continuously rotated by draft animals or slaves. -
150 BCE
The first bakers' guild
In Rome, the first bakers' guilds were formed because of the rules and regulations for bread. The wealthy Romans wanted the more expensive white bread, while the poor were given bread made from sorghum. -
1202
Greedy bakers
England made laws to limit the profits bakers earned by regulating the price of bread. -
1266
The bread trials
The bread trials in England ordered to mark each loaf of their bread in a special way, so if a non-conforming loaf turned up, the baker could be easily found. The bakers' marks were basically the first trademarks. -
Bakery boom
The United States had over 2,000 bakeries that employed more than 6,700 workers. -
Americans help wheat sales
Americans were eating 210 pounds each of wheat flour per year... that's a lot of bread. -
Sliced bread
The invention of the commercial bread slicer lead to the invention of the toaster. Due to both of the inventions, toast consumption increased. -
Bread deemed nutritious
Bread was chosen as the foundation block for a diet enrichment program in the U.S. Pellagra, beriberi, and anemia had become widespread diseases because of a lack of B-vitamins and iron. Since bread was a daily food item, specific amounts of iron, thiamine, niacin, and riboflavin were added to white flour. This enrichment program was a major factor in the elimination of pellagra and beriberi in the United States, and helped in reducing anemia among Americans. -
No more sliced bread
Despite sliced bread's widespread popularity, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture banned the sale of it in an effort to hold down prices during wartime rationing. -
Americans stop eating bread
Americans were only eating 110 pounds of wheat flour, and the consumption of bread has not been the same since 1910. -
Americans told to eat bread
The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommended that Americans eat 6 to 11 servings of bread and other grain foods each day. -
Bread rises again
Americans' wheat flour consumption rises to 150 pounds. To compare, Egyptians eat 385 pounds per person pr year. -
Bread helps babies
Folic acid, a key nutrient in preventing serious birth defects, was added to all enriched grain foods, including bread. -
Americans love bread
Americans eat about 53 pounds of bread per person per year.
