(no subject)

[ru]

So, let me know if there's some sort of bread trend that I'm completely unaware of.

I read an article in the paper today about childhood obesity and how parents are oblivious to their children's weight problems. Okay, fine. Now, after this article, there were some statistics to help drive the point home, such as how many parents limit their kids TV time, how much exercise they get per week, etc. There was one thing in it, though, that made me raise an eyebrow and become instantly skeptical about some of these numbers. One of these lists discussed how portion sizes have grown over the years, how hamburgers are bigger and how supersizing has caused french fries to become highly dangerous caloric material. In particular, it mentioned that bagels have jumped in size from three inches to diameter to six. ...bwuh? Call me crazy, but I have yet to see a bagel that's six inches in diameter. Four inches? Yes, but not six. Am I just not in an area that's big on bagels? And I'm assuming they mean your standard round, hole-in-the-middle-that's-perfect-for-an-extra-cream-cheese-stash bagel, not those square bagel-like things or whatnot. I consider those to be distinctly not-bagels.

Comments

[foofasaurus.livejournal.com]

I think it's BS, personally. I am really big on bread, and I can't think of a single type of bread where I've noticed any kind of demonstrable change in size. Not bagles or muffins or croissants or dinner rolls, yadda. The ONLY thing I can think of, is that a lot of the loaves of bread are bigger in size (in terms of slices), but those are higher quality breads - ie, a loaf of Oroweat is larger than a loaf of Wonderbread, but... well, duh. Those kinds of breads have always been bigger and are simply more prominent now because people are looking for more than generic white or wheat.

[peppermintberry.livejournal.com]

*nods* I agree. I think artisan breads and the like have become more prominent, and they do seem to be larger in size. I don't think it necessarily significantly increases the caloric intake of the bread, though, particularly if it isn't a normally dense bread. A lot of the higher quality breads seem much more airy to me (and much more yummy, on a side note). There's a local bakery here that makes some really tasty bread in circular loaves that are HUGE--a whole loaf must be something like a foot in diameter (though they also sell the loaves in half and quarter increments). A lot of it, though, has to do with the fact that the bread has lots of nooks and crannies I think, so it's not quite as calorie-laden as it looks. Unless bread air suddenly has nutritional value. XD

[dialogue.livejournal.com]

is there a Panera Bread in your area? Those bagels are pretty ginourmous, and they have a cinnamon crunch bagel that has a hard layer of cinnamon and sugar on top that you can actually chip pieces off of...

[peppermintberry.livejournal.com]

*nods* We do have Panera here, although we rarely go there to eat, mostly because certain members of the family don't like their deli meat. I've never noticed their bagels, but the next time we go to one, I'll take a look. Maybe that's where they're getting this whole six-inch bagel of DOOM thing. XD