15 - Bread and Other Bakery Products

Abstract

The term “baked products” encompasses a wide range of products all of which are based on the use of wheat flour. The limits of the shelf life of bakery products are determined by both sensory changes and microbial spoilage. The key sensory characteristics of each of the main product groups are different and the manner in which these characteristics change to limit product shelf life is equally diverse. Water plays a major role in determining both the initial characteristics and the manner of the changes occurring with product storage. Product moisture content and moisture migration are key determining factors in deciding when a particular product reaches the end of its sensory life, that is, when it would be considered to be “stale” by consumers. The relationship between the water activity and the microbial shelf lives of bakery products is well established with mold growth being the main limiting factor. The opportunities for increasing the mold-free shelf life of bakery products are often limited to the addition of preservatives to the initial recipe as reformulation changes to adjust the water activity tend to have significant (and unacceptable) impacts on the sensory properties of the products concerned. However, there is some scope for recipe adjustment, especially with cake products to extend mold-free shelf life.