The Worst Store-Bought Whole Wheat Bread Is Also One Of The Cheapest

The phrase, "the best thing since sliced bread," alludes to just how revolutionary packaged bread was at the time of its invention. Now, your local supermarket bread aisle is lined with countless brands of sliced bread. And while white bread may have been the original sliced bread craze, whole wheat bread is the healthier choice that more and more shoppers gravitate towards for sandwiches. So, we have sampled and ranked 9 store-bought whole wheat breads to find the loaves to choose as well as the loaves to avoid.

We ranked each wheat bread loaf according to taste, softness vs sturdiness, and overall texture. And the worst store-bought whole wheat bread comes from the Signature Select brand, the private label behind various grocery chains including Safeway and Albertsons. Of course, a store-brand loaf like Signature Select is generally going to be cheaper than name-brand counterparts, and it is, in fact, one of the cheapest wheat breads on our list. But you get what you pay for. So, if you're expecting a hearty, sturdy crumb with a pronounced wheat flavor, that's apparently out of Signature Select's budget. What you'll get instead is a very soft and squishy, exceedingly small slice of bread that you might mistake for white bread in taste and texture were it not for the darker "whole wheat" hue. While this bread is by no means inedible, it also isn't a very good representation of whole wheat bread's potential.

Albertson's customers were, for the most part, satisfied with Signature Select's whole wheat bread as a budget-friendly option. The main complaints were that the slices of bread were quite small and thin, which customers thought were best suited for kids. Others said that the bread is prone to drying out quickly and lamented having to throw half the loaf out after a few days. While none of these complaints are too egregious, Signature Select's whole wheat bread may be committing a more grave offense of false advertisement.

Of course, wheat bread is a dime a dozen at any grocery store, but you may not be getting what you think when you buy wheat bread. The ingredients on whole wheat bread should specify whole wheat flour if you expect to get all the benefits associated with whole wheat bread, like extra protein, fiber, and a long list of vitamins and minerals. While whole wheat flour is an ingredient in Signature Select's whole wheat bread, it is not the main type of flour used. Instead, enriched unbleached wheat flour is the first and most predominant ingredient. So, if you want a true whole wheat bread, our number one choice, Pepperidge Farm 100% Whole Wheat Whole Grain bread, has whole wheat flour as the only type of flour used. Plus, the bread has the perfect soft yet textured crumb and a pronounced wheat flavor that's a cut above the rest.