Bread Processing

Until recently, the idea of not being able to eat wheat was unthinkable in Western society. Bread has been a staple of human life for 10,000 years, since the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians discovered its ability to literally rise above other grains, thanks to a protein called gluten. Gluten, which is a combination of the proteins gliadin and glutenin, gives wheat flour a certain elasticity when mixed with water that makes it easy to work with and helps hold pockets of air within the dough, allowing it to rise. Gluten intolerance has become a significant health concern in just the past decade or so. Celiac disease, an extreme autoimmune reaction to gluten, has increased fourfold since the 1950s. Whereas wheat counts for one fifth of the calories in the American diet, fully a third of American adults think that they should stop eating it.

In celiac patients, gluten causes the finger-like villi in the intestine that take in nutrients to flatten, and in doing so, blocks nutrients from being absorbed into the body. It can cause permanent intestinal damage and malnutrition and even lead to other autoimmune disorders. Gluten intolerance, on the other hand, cannot be diagnosed with a simple blood test, so many people self-diagnose. What scientists do know is that it is real, though not for everyone who claims to have it, and that symptoms are similar to those with celiac. Some have estimated that 6% of Americans are gluten intolerant, but more research needs to be done.

There have been three major changes in bread processing in the past 150 years or so: (1) the [Page 147]wheat plant itself, (2) the way flour is milled, and (3) how long bread is fermented. Each change made the process faster and more efficient, and each change could have contributed to the apparent recent rise in gluten intolerance, although it is difficult to say for sure. The changes are described in this entry.