'Don’t ban bread’: La Brea Bakery calls on consumers to eat smart carbs

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‘Don’t ban bread’: La Brea Bakery calls on consumers to eat smart carbs

19 Jan 2022

Liz Goodwin

Liz Goodwin is a Texas-born journalist and photographer. Although a Southerner at heart, she fell in love with the Midwest at the University of Missouri where she earned her bachelor's of journalism. When she’s not writing or behind a camera, she loves to cook, find new restaurants, and spend time outside. Her favorite baked goods include croissants and crackers, especially when topped with fig jam and brie.

LOS ANGELES — La Brea Bakery, a premier artisan bread brand focusing on handcrafted and hearth baked products, has a message for consumers: Give good carbs a chance.

As new year’s resolutions continue this month, many of them revolving around healthier eating, carb-heavy foods often draw the short straw. Things like bread and pasta are the first items to go, despite their versatility and health benefits.

That’s why La Brea Bakery is inviting consumers to work smarter and not harder when it comes to their dietary goals. Instead of eliminating carbohydrates altogether, consumers should choose better carbs from sources such as fermented sourdough bread or whole grain products.

“Carbs aren’t just in junk food or sweets,” said Jonathan Davis, artisan baker and culinary innovation leader at La Brea Bakery. “Healthy foods have carbs, too, from whole grains to vegetables to beans. Somehow the message about vegetables and fruits being healthy has sunk in, but the myth about carbs being bad persists. That’s a ‘carb contradiction.’”

Aside from whole and fermented grain-based products, carbs abound in beans, vegetables and fruits. Many less nutritious foods are also high in carbs, which can confuse consumers about which kinds of products are the best for them. In an era where health-and-wellness is a prime focus for many shoppers, that is a critical component.

“The key to any food is that specific food itself, not the label we give it, like ‘carbs,’” Davis said. “You need to look at the label instead — consider the nutritional information as well as the ingredients. What’s in the bread, like whole grains, and what’s not in it, like artificial preservatives, are equally important. With any food, the more you know about how it was made, the better choices you can make.”

This sentiment is in line with the greater clean label trend, which has been dominating the market as of late. The concept focuses on ingredients and nutrition, and what those elements can provide to the body, rather than a societal “good” or “bad” label. The clean label ingredient market is projected to reach a valuation of $64.1 billion by 2026 according to Allied Market Research, and it’s showing no signs of slowing.

“We believe healthy bread like sourdough or whole grain has a place at everyone’s table,” Davis said. “That’s why we focus on the ingredients as well as the process. From our Take and Bake whole grain breads to our sourdough, bread can be an important part of your daily nutrition.”

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