History of Bread Timeline

The Statute of English Bakers was another quasi-statute passed later in the 13th century, reinforcing legal controls over the baking trade.

Later in the 13th century, the Judgement of Pillory was passed as one of two quasi-statutes connected with the regulation of English bakers.

In Britain, the Assize of Bread and Ale regulated the price, weight, and quality of bread and beer from the 13th century.

From the late 18th century through the end of the 19th century, bread sold in England and the United States was often adulterated with hazardous materials.

Chalk was among the hazardous materials sometimes added to bread during the period when commercial loaves were frequently adulterated.

Sawdust was one of the adulterants reported in bread sold in England and the United States during the late 18th and 19th centuries.

Alum was among the hazardous substances used to adulterate bread before stronger government action addressed food quality.

Bread assizes were abandoned in Glasgow in 1801, marking an early retreat from the traditional system of regulating bread by official price and weight.

London abandoned bread assizes in 1815, continuing the gradual decline of the traditional regulatory system.

Frederick Accum was the first to raise a public alarm about food adulteration in 1820, drawing attention to unsafe practices affecting bread and other foods.

The remaining bread assizes were abandoned in the rest of Britain in 1836.

Graham's instructions for home baking were presented in response to adulterated bread sold in public bakehouses and promoted the use of unrefined wheat flour.

In 1837, American health reformer Sylvester Graham published Treatise on Bread and Bread-Making, describing how to use unrefined wheat flour to make Graham bread at home.

The Food Adulteration Act 1860 marked a major step in British government action against adulterated food, helping bring the adulteration of bread gradually to an end.

After the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 substantially reduced cereal duties, the remaining duties were abolished in 1869, changing the economic environment for grain and bread.

Image source: Corn Laws

The 1899 Food Adulteration Act was part of the government action that gradually ended the widespread adulteration of bread.

The introduction of commercial yeasts during the 19th century sped up baking and made production much easier, but was detrimental to the traditional role of sourdough.

Image source: Sourdough

Otto Frederick Rohwedder developed a prototype bread-slicing machine in 1912, laying the groundwork for commercial pre-sliced bread.

Image source: Otto Frederick Rohwedder

In 1928, Rohwedder developed a practical machine that both sliced and wrapped bread, making consistently packaged sliced loaves possible.

A major change in the United Kingdom came in 1961 with the development of the Chorleywood bread process, an industrial method that reshaped British bread production.

Image source: Chorleywood bread process

Since 1941, the United States government has mandated fortification of white flour-based foods with nutrients lost during milling, including thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and iron.

In most Western societies, connotations of bread reversed in the late 20th century: whole-grain bread became preferred for its superior nutritional value.

Image source: Whole wheat bread

By the late 20th century, Chorleywood bread became associated in Western societies with lower-class ignorance of nutrition, contrasting with the growing prestige of whole-grain bread.

During the 1980s, demand for sourdough in the United Kingdom grew substantially, reversing some of the earlier decline caused by commercial yeast.

Since 1986, domestic bread makers that automate the process of making bread have become popular in homes, bringing mechanized bread production into household kitchens.

In 1993, regulations were drawn up in the United Kingdom to define what could be sold as sourdough bread after demand had grown during the 1980s.