Who needs bread?

The readily available go-to staple was never really a healthy choice. Try these recipes for wholesome sandwiches and burgers that don’t require bread

Let’s admit it: Many of us live on bread, almost. It’s our go-to food when we don’t feel like cooking, are tired or when the kitchen is low on groceries. While buying, we ensure it is the healthy brown variety, and not white, and that it’s not past its best-before date. But do we really check beyond that?

A recent study did. Last week, Delhi-based non-profit Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) released a study that said all types of bread—white, brown, multigrain, wholewheat, even pavs, buns and pizza breads—that are sold at retail shops, bakeries and outlets in Delhi contained carcinogenic chemicals. Carcinogenic chemicals are responsible for causing cancer and some can also lead to thyroid disorders.

The CSE study found potassium bromate and potassium iodate in 84% of bread and bakery samples collected from the city. “These oxidizing agents are banned by many countries, including the UK and the European Union. But India continues to use them as flour treatment agents (the chemicals make bread fluffy, soft and give it a good finish),” says Amit Khurana, programme manager (food safety and toxicity) at CSE.

Following the study, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the regulator, immediately announced the decision to ban the use of the two chemicals. On 27 May, the All India Bread Manufacturers’ Association, which represents over 90 organized bread manufacturers, announced its decision to voluntarily stop using potassium bromate and potassium iodate as additives in bread from that very day. “There are several FSSAI-approved alternatives like ascorbic acid, enzymes and emulsifiers,” says Khurana, who was part of the study. He adds, “There’s insignificant difference in terms of cost for the manufacturers when they change additives, so they should have no problem shifting to healthier options.”

Ritika Samaddar, chief dietitian at the Max hospital in Saket, New Delhi, believes it is better to avoid bread, or make it at home. “Bread really is at the bottom in the health food chart. Whether it is white, brown or wholewheat bread, harmful additives or not, each slice is high in carbohydrates and sugar. It might be a source of fibre, but in that context our roti is a hundred times better,” she says, adding: “When made at home, we are able to monitor the whole flour percentage and the kind of additives (yeast is the best bet).”

A cucumber bread sandwich contains 120 calories (one slice of white bread has 75 calories, brown, 73, and multigrain, 69), the same amount as one paratha, says Niyati Likhite, dietitian at the Fortis Hospital in Kalyan, Mumbai. “While the calories are the same, a bread sandwich is a high source of trans fat and sugar, which is not the case with paratha made with the good-fat ghee (clarified butter),” she says.

But won’t life be more difficult without eating the good-old lettuce bread sandwich at 4pm, when you are already trying hard not to eat a samosa or a patty in the office canteen? “There are a number of ways to make sandwiches sans bread. You can use protein-rich tofu, which is 100 times healthier than paneer, sweet potato, which offers healthy carbs, fibre-rich cucumber, even mushroom, which is one of the few readily available sources of vitamin D,” says Samaddar.