Published 25th October 2011
Mum-of-two Rebecca McCracken has spent the last four years reading ingredient lists on pretty much everything she buys at the supermarket.
Like many parents raising kids with food allergies, a quick trip to the supermarket often means checking labels, comparing products and hoping to find something the whole family can eat.
Bec’s four-year-old son and 17-month-old daughter were both born with cow’s milk protein allergy. While her son has since outgrown his allergies, her toddler still reacts to dairy, making even everyday staples like bread a challenge.
“Unless we buy expensive sourdough for seven or eight dollars, we don’t really have a choice.”
Even then, it’s not ideal.
“A kid doesn’t want to eat a sourdough sandwich,” Bec laughs. “And fairy bread on sourdough is not great.”
Bec runs an online community for allergy families, so she spends plenty of time sharing recipes, product finds and supermarket discoveries with other parents.
It was one of those parents who first told her about new JUST bread.
“A follower messaged me and said, ‘Oh my gosh, this bread is coming soon.’ I was like, ‘Where? When? I need to know. I’m getting my car keys and running!'”
Made with baker’s flour, water, yeast, vinegar, oil and salt, JUST bread contains no artificial preservatives, flavours or colours.
For Bec, it sounded almost too good to be true. “When we saw JUST bread, I was like, ‘You’re joking.’ A bread that’s fresh baked but in the bread aisle? That’s unheard of for us.”
“It was really exciting for our family and for the allergy community.”
Of course, there was one person whose opinion mattered more than anyone else’s.
“My toughest critic is my daughter. She is so fussy. We know something is really good if she approves it, and she approves it. She loves it. She’ll eat it plain, toasted, as French toast … whatever. She loves it.”
Bec says she was impressed too.
“I like it. I like that it’s only got minimal ingredients and doesn’t have the additives and preservatives that are in a lot of other brands.”
Bec tried out JUST bread because of her family’s allergies, but she says it has a broader appeal.
“I think everyone is becoming more conscious of additives and preservatives in their food.”
It’s a feeling many of us can probably relate to. We don’t all want to overhaul the way we eat, but plenty of us are paying a little more attention to ingredient lists and looking for products that keep things simple.
Bread is one of those foods that’s always around. It ends up in lunchboxes, on the breakfast table, alongside soup on a cold night and covered in hundreds and thousands at birthday parties. When we eat something that often, it’s only natural to wonder what’s in it.
JUST bread keeps things simple with a handful of pantry ingredients and no artificial preservatives, flavours or colours. It’s the sort of loaf that fits easily into busy family life without asking us to compromise on taste or convenience.
For Bec, finding a loaf of bread her whole family can enjoy is about more than ticking another item off the shopping list.
“It seems like such a little thing to the normal community, but for us this is a massive win.”
Being able to make sandwiches without worrying about ingredients. Packing lunchboxes a little more easily. Bringing back fairy bread for birthdays. Sometimes it’s the little things that make family life feel a whole lot simpler.
And while Bec found JUST bread because she needed another allergy-friendly option, its simple ingredient list is likely to appeal to plenty of other families too. After all, when we can choose everyday foods made with ingredients we recognise, that’s a pretty good place to start.
JUST Bread is made on a line that also processes soy and sesame.
Mouths of Mums is proudly working with JUST. to bring you this article. JUST bread is made with just a handful of pantry ingredients. JUST. The Good Stuff.
ReplyIt’s at a good price point for families on a tight budget and is “cleaner” but missing the mark with Canola oil . I wouldn’t be running to a supermarket for it but it’s alot better than other varieties on the market. It’s nice to see supermarkets are at least trying and listening
ReplyMost breads are dairy free anyway so I am surprised by this article. Additive free is a bonus. I always go for a grain bread nowadays and have the kids eating it too so I’ll be sticking with that. It’s always great to have variety out there though for the ones that need it.
ReplyWe bought this bread from the supermarket and it is a good price for bread which of course can indeed be expensive. Each slice is a good size and our favourite meal to create and eat with this bread is cheese toasties. The bread holds and is good to eat.
ReplyI am so glad to hear about this and will definitely be on a look out for this in the supermarket. I have noticed that there are starting to be more ‘cleaner’ products in the supermarket, meaning consumers are being heard. We are going full circle back to how foods use to be produced before companies got greedy and started taking shortcuts to producing food items. I hope we continue seeing more preservative and additive free options that are affordable come back in the supermarkets.
ReplyI am so glad to hear about this and will definitely be on a look out for this in the supermarket. I have noticed that there are starting to be more ‘cleaner’ products in the supermarket, meaning consumers are being heard. We are going full circle back to how foods use to be produced before companies got greedy and started taking shortcuts to producing food items. I hope we continue seeing more preservative and additive free options that are affordable come back in the supermarkets.
ReplyGrabbing your car keys and running for a bread ?? I can’t imagine doing so for a bread lol ! It’s nice to see that more and more allergy friendly products are being produced and put on the market.
I don’t agree with the statement that “A kid doesn’t want to eat a sourdough sandwich”. It depends on what type of bread you introduce to your kids. My kids grew up with 7 seeds, rustic bread and sourdough and they love it. It’s also quite easy and cheap to make sourdough bread yourself.
ReplyI haven’t seen this bread in the supermarket but will be looking for it now. I have been trying to avoid preservatives and additives for some time now and as highlighted in the article bread it difficult to find, or super expensive, without them so I don’t have it often.
ReplyThis is fantastic, finally a bread that is not full of nasty stuff. I will be going straight out to buy this. My son has ARFID and will only eat white bread, but it’s not terribly healthy. With this bread, at least I know that it is much healthier than the alternatives. Woohoo
ReplyI cant wait to give this bread a go (so far its always been sold out at my local woolies so it must be good). So good its suitable for those with allergies too. I think nowadays were all looking for cleaner options of ingredients in our foods so this is a step in the right direction.
ReplyI am glad more and more allergy friendly products are being produced and offered. I don’t agree with Bec’s statement that kids don’t like sourdough bread. My kids were introduced to sourdough and the most rustic and seeded breads from the time they started to eat bread, and they love it
ReplyOh I cannot wait to try this bread! We go through that much bread each week and I always feel so guilty with how much my kids have – not anymore! Would love to see them introduce other variants in the future – multigrain and gluten free would be superb!
ReplyThis is such a great product that I’m looking forward to trying! I’ve only been buying bread from bakeries the last few years because grocery store bread texture was so dense and unpleasant. But the hassle with bakery bread is I can’t get it everywhere! I’ll be really keen to give this a go
11:45 am
Kids like it.
11:16 pm
Good value
11:57 pm
excellent taste
3:06 am
Nice and Crunchy
4:06 pm
Love it!
9:48 pm
11:23 am
6 ticks of approval from me
✓ Wholegrain – includes goodness from every part of the grain
✓ Fibre – Helps maintain a good digestive system
✓ Thiamin – Necessary for the metabolism of carbohydrates
✓ Riboflavin & Niacin – Necessary for the release of energy from goods
✓ Folate – Necessary for blood formation
✓ Iron – Necessary for oxygen transport
3:07 pm
Opened Yesterday......All Gone Today! (Saturday)
5:12 pm
looking great looking great
10:10 pm
8:20 pm
No taste
In saying that however, the taste was not just there. The flakes almost tasted like cardboard, and it wouldn't hurt if more sultanas were added.
Even though Woolworths Select Great Start Bran & Sultana Cereal is less expensive than others, I'd rather pay a little bit more for a product that I actually enjoy.
5:12 pm
looking great looking great
9:28 am
Family did not like it
11:40 am
Not a great substitute for similar cereals
8:03 pm
Needs more sultans
8:40 pm
Good breakfast to start with
Quality of ingredients are good...
9:11 pm
Only okay
9:54 pm
give it a try
10:12 pm
Not enough Sultanas
11:35 am
Just ok
this cereal was pretty nice but I had to add more sultanas to it as there did not seem to have enough off them in it. I had to give it an extra minute to soak up the milk as the cereal did seem to take a little bit longer to absorb the milk. Was a ok buy but would not be in a hurry to buy it again
10:08 pm
nice cereal
11:41 am
no flavour
11:47 pm
I buy now
8:27 pm
how cheap it is.
8:26 pm
Not quite sultana bran
8:38 am
Good taste and great for health
1:31 pm
This product has a great flavour,an enjoyable
6:12 pm
a great start to the day
9:29 pm
Delicious
5:16 pm
Healthy, tasty, filling - YUM!
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