Typically it has a significant amount of sugar (like, considerably more sugar than salt, 1 gram or more per slice).
Also lots of dough conditioners which are added for various reasons.
I know I've eaten commercial bread with enough lactylate (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactylate) in it to give me some pretty awful gastrointestinal symptoms. My test wasn't blinded, but the effect was dramatic enough. At the moment I don't recall if it was Sodium stearoyl lactylate or Calcium stearoyl lactylate.
Fiber is simple, it's any carbohydrate that humans can't digest.
> Typically it has a significant amount of sugar (like, considerably more sugar than salt, 1 gram or more per slice).
Contrary to graycat's ingredient list, sugar is a key ingredient of nearly every leavened bread recipe. About 40g/loaf is the typical amount (about three tablespoons). I would be very surprised if you could find a bread recipe that doesn't have about that much sugar, unless it is specifically trying to work around sugar.
Are we discussing added sugar? Traditional English bread doesn't include much sugar, if any. (By "traditional", I mean the bread my mum made by hand at home, or purchased from the local bakery. Most supermarkets don't sell it.) Modern recipes add sugar to increase shelf life.
I bake bread at home (in Britain, using a standard recipe). I use a single teaspoon of sugar to feed the yeast before mixing it in; so most is consumed by the yeast.
The biggest taste difference is if you forget the salt, and then varying the type of flour e,g. mixing in rye, spelt or other types and changing butter for olive oil, adding seeds etc.
Adding multiple tablespoons of sugar sounds quite disgusting; it has plenty of taste without. A warm freshly-baked loaf is just the best!
Also, the point stands that I make bread with minimal or no sugar in it. I just don't make it all that often.
As far as the bread in the stores, it's usually in the bakery section. I think Walmart's sourdough doesn't have much sugar in it, but they stock it in the bread aisle. Brand is Sam's choice. (does soft sourdough bread count in the soft bread category we are now discussing?).
> made almost entirely just from flour, water, yeast, and salt.
So my "almost entirely" was my qualification or safety valve! I didn't know just how much sugar, dough conditioner, etc.
I did know that the French bread I've had in the US claims loudly that ALL it has is "flour, water, yeast, and salt" so concluded that US white bread doesn't actually need a lot more. This list of 4 for French bread is also elsewhere in this thread.
Also lots of dough conditioners which are added for various reasons.
I know I've eaten commercial bread with enough lactylate (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactylate) in it to give me some pretty awful gastrointestinal symptoms. My test wasn't blinded, but the effect was dramatic enough. At the moment I don't recall if it was Sodium stearoyl lactylate or Calcium stearoyl lactylate.
Fiber is simple, it's any carbohydrate that humans can't digest.