Calcium Propionate in Buns

Yesterday,  I was running out of time and in need for 'kids and mom approved' buns for hot dogs. I just happened to be at the Target, so I thought I could pick some up there, as they have expanded their food department with fresh foods.

But breads and buns remain a difficult food to buy for a Dutch person in the USA.

In the Netherlands, supermarkets and bakeries get a lot of their breads supplied fresh daily which typically means that they are baked that same day. After a couple days, the bread gets stale and after about 5 days, if still not incredibly dry by then, fungi (molds) will be growing on it (which is a sign to go out and buy new bread and store it in the freezer next time).


So going through the bakery aisle, and grabbing buns, I was amazed by seeing a shelf life of more then 2 weeks. Typically, I look for a long shelf life in bread, because I see it as sign that the bread is  baked more recently and therefore fresher. But my definition of a long shelf life for bread is very different than how an American supermarkets or bread manufacturers define it. A long shelf life helps stores greatly in managing the supply chain and  for manufacturers to produce bread centrally and cost effectively and than ship it far away to consumers.


At first, I was hoping to find something organic, but as that was not available, I went for whole wheat. Unfortunately all the buns had various long name ingredients in it, and all had calcium propionate in it. The calcium propionate was labeled as  'to preserve freshness', which I personally read as to prevent fungi growth. 


Calcium propionate


Calcium propionate by itself is a molecule that is produced by certain bacteria (propionibacter), for example during the production of the Swiss cheese Emmenthal. It is approved for uses in food and feed and by itself not a bad molecule.  Besides that calcium propionate prevents the growth of fungi, it also helps prevent bread from going stale as the calcium is necessary to break down certain parts of starch in the bread into sugars and improves the structure of the bread (making it soft and chewy). Originally, most people would not consume huge amounts of propionic acid or calcium propionate.


Nowadays, you can find calcium propionate in many different applications, (such as the bread) and it is also used in feed of animals.


My biggest problem with these types of additives, is that they somewhat sneak into your food, mainly for manufacturing/supply chain convenience, but there is no nutritional or safety benefit for consumers. And if they work well, they are being used everywhere and before you know it, you are consuming huge amounts of things that you do not need. The way to go would be more regional/local bakery, shorter supply chains and educate consumers about storing bread in a freezer.


So did I buy the buns? Yes, I did, but so far the kids did not eat it. (I still had several buns with less additives and they turned out more then could be eaten anyway).


Will we eat them? I don't know. Because there are many more chemicals in it... but more about those some other time.

If you have any ingredients that you would like to know more about, leave a comment and it might be my next blog.