Study of Bread Quality and Hygienic Condition of Rafsanjan's Bakeries

Background: Bread is the major food in Middle East and Iran. Recent studies in Iran have shown that daily bread consumption was 300gr. Also, 40.2% of the total energy per person was obtained from bread. Methods: This cross-sectional study was done in 81 bakeries in Rafsanjan, Iran in 2004. The main objective of this study was to determine some parameters of the bread, such as pH, NaCl, dough and hygiene condition of bakeries. Results: The studies showed that 10.36% of each bread was doughy. The mean pH was 5.4, but 22.2% of breads had a pH above Iranian standards. The mean NaCI was 3.27 gr per bread, which was under the standard of Iran. Only 16% bakeries had good hygienic condition. Conclusion: The education of Bakeries workers, continuous control of hygiene condition, precision in the preparation of good quality primary materials, to accomplish continuous investigation for increasing of bread quality and elimination of chemical harmful materials from bread can be effective for improvement of affairs.