Best Healthy Bread UK: Non‑UPF Options to Try in Your Local Supermarket (2025)
- Steph Ley (BSc, DipION, mANP, mGNC)
- 4 days ago
- 29 min read
Updated: 25 minutes ago
How To Choose The Healthiest Bread For Your Lunch: A Nutritionist's Real Talk On The Best Tried & Tested Non UPF Bread
Whether you're seeking the healthiest sandwich bread or an unprocessed wrap for work, this guide explains how you can upgrade your lunch game and find genuinely healthy options that taste great and fuel your body throughout the afternoon.
Let's be honest – bread gets a bad rap these days. Scroll through any wellness Instagram feed and it's rare you see an influencer tucking into a nice fat sandwich.
It appears bread has been declared the enemy of health, the root of all digestive evil, the carb that's single-handedly destroying our metabolisms.
But here's the thing: I'm a nutritionist, and I bloody love a good sandwich for my lunch.
The problem isn't bread itself – it's more the shocking state of what most of us call "bread" dominating our supermarket aisles.
We've taken one of humanity's oldest staple foods and turned it into an ultra-processed laboratory experiment – the winner being the manufacturer who can make a loaf for the cheapest price, last the longest, and hit all the flavour and texture punches.
But before you swear off sandwiches forever, or continue to see a great hunk of bread as an occasional lunchtime ‘treat’, let me share some nutritionist real talk about how to choose bread that actually nourishes your body.
Many clients I've worked with come to me declaring they cannot tolerate bread, but when we clean up their diet, fix their gut, and switch to healthier versions, bread-blamed symptoms often completely disappear.
Seeing as a sandwich is around 70% bread, it's about time bread started pulling its weight when it comes to adding to our wellbeing.
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Contents:
Discover What Is The Best Unprocessed, Additive-Free Bread UK
Is Bread Really That Bad? Should I Avoid It?
Here's what might surprise you: real wheat, in its whole grain form, is actually incredibly nutrient-dense. We're talking about a powerhouse of fibre, B vitamins, and essential minerals.
Wheat berries, the whole, unprocessed grain, also contain good levels of both tryptophan (the precursor to our happy hormone serotonin) along with magnesium, known as nature's natural tranquilliser – both of which we could all probably do with more of!
It also contains prized antioxidants such as ferulic acid and Vitamin E, helping to protect our cells from the onslaught of modern stressors.
So Why Has Bread Become the Villain?
The answer lies in what's happened to our bread over the past 50 years. The "bread" that dominates our supermarket shelves today bears little resemblance to the nourishing loaves our grandparents ate.
We've got a perfect storm of issues:
Modern wheat processing has stripped away nutrition. Most commercial bread starts with white flour – wheat that's been industrially milled to remove the bran (the part containing the beneficial fibre) and germ (the part containing the vast majority of the nutrients), leaving behind mostly starch (the sugary bit) – creating a perfect storm for dysregulated blood glucose.
It's like taking a vitamin pill, throwing away the vitamins, and eating the casing.
The wheat itself has also been bred to be high-yielding and has resulted in increased accumulation of starch alongside a decrease in the relative concentration of protein. Not the ratio change we want to be seeing for good metabolic health.
We're drowning in additives. Pick up a standard supermarket loaf and you'll find a chemistry set of ingredients: emulsifiers, preservatives, dough conditioners, and sugars you can't pronounce.
Real bread needs four ingredients: flour, water, salt, and yeast. That's it. The average loaf in the supermarket has over 15!
The glyphosate factor. Over half of wholemeal bread in the UK has been found to contain two or more pesticides, including glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, often sprayed right before harvest.
This means you're likely getting an added side of chemical residues served up with your lunch that you didn't order.
These herbicides have been linked to disruptions of the gut microbiome (the essential bacteria you don't want to be messing with), sex hormone dysregulation, and even certain cancers.
Processing has intensified. Modern commercial bread production often uses the Chorleywood Bread Process, which speeds up fermentation using mechanical energy and additives.
Traditional slow fermentation, which makes bread more digestible and nutritious, has been sacrificed for speed and shelf life.
This processing alone means most modern bread has been created to be eaten extremely quickly in large quantities, by-passing our natural satiety mechanisms.
The reality? A simple loaf made from the wholegrain of wheat, water, salt, and yeast isn't inherently bad for most people. It's the modern ingredients and industrial processing that's the problem.
But Isn't Gluten Bad For Me?
Ah, gluten – the protein that's become more feared than a parking ticket. Let's separate fact from fiction here.
For most people, gluten isn't the enemy. Only about 1% of the population has coeliac disease (a serious autoimmune condition triggered by gluten), ~1% a wheat allergy and another ~1% may have non-coeliac gluten sensitivity. That leaves the vast majority of us perfectly capable of digesting gluten without issue (on paper).
Gluten is a complex mixture of hundreds of related but distinct proteins, mainly gliadin and glutenin and is what gives dough its stretchy, elastic quality.
But here's what I see happening: our modern lifestyle has made us more susceptible to
food sensitivities, including gluten intolerance. Chronic stress, antibiotic use, processed foods, alcohol, and other factors can significantly disrupt our gut health (without us fully realising), with some people reporting increased intestinal permeability or "leaky gut."
When your gut lining is compromised, you're more likely to react to harder-to-digest proteins like gluten that would normally not be an issue.
I see this a lot with many of the clients I've worked with – a build-up of toxins teamed with ongoing stress, topped off with a few rounds of antibiotics, and they find themselves bloating at the mere sight of a sandwich.
There's also the question of gluten in modern wheat itself. While the gluten content hasn't necessarily increased dramatically, the composition has changed.
Due to selective breeding, the proportion of certain gluten proteins (particularly glutenins) has risen by around 25% in modern wheat varieties.
Combine this with industrial processing methods and glyphosate residues, and you've got a recipe that's quite different from the wheat our ancestors consumed.
The bottom line? If you have good gut health, no genetic susceptibility to gluten-related disorders, and you choose high-quality bread that isn't ultra-processed, there's no reason to fear gluten in bread and banish your beloved sandwich.
Is Sourdough Bread The Healthier Option?
Beyond the sourdough porn on Instagram, is there actually substance to the sourdough hype?
Here's what's actually happening during that long, slow fermentation process that makes sourdough different:
Think of sourdough fermentation like having a team of beneficial microorganisms doing some of your digestive work for you – similar to what happens with yogurt or kefir.
The wild yeasts and bacteria in a sourdough starter spend days slowly breaking down and transforming the compounds in flour, creating a bread that's genuinely easier for your body to handle.
The Health Benefits of Real Sourdough
The digestive game-changer:Â This is where sourdough really shines for people with sensitive stomachs. During that long fermentation, bacteria break down many of the FODMAPs (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols) found in wheat such as fructans.
These are the compounds that can cause bloating, gas, and digestive discomfort in many people – particularly those with IBS.
It's like having a pre-digestive process that makes the bread gentler on your gut.Those hard-working microorganisms actually "eat" some of the simple sugars during fermentation, which means sourdough typically has a lower glycaemic index than standard bread.
Translation? Less of a blood sugar spike with your lunch – something your afternoon energy levels will definitely appreciate.
The phytic acid transformation:Â Here's where it gets really interesting. Grains naturally contain phytic acid, which can interfere with your body's ability to absorb minerals like iron and zinc.
The long sourdough fermentation process can convert much of this phytic acid into inositol – a compound that may actually help with insulin sensitivity. It's like nutritional alchemy!
Enhanced nutrient absorption: All this microbial activity doesn't just remove potentially problematic compounds – it actually makes many nutrients and antioxidants more bioavailable. Your body can absorb more of the good stuff from properly fermented sourdough than from regular bread.
The Reality Check
But here's my nutritionist reality check: Not all sourdough is created equal.
That mass-produced "sourdough" or "sour-faux" from the supermarket that costs the same as regular bread? It's likely been made with commercial yeast and flavouring (sometimes a bit of vinegar) to mimic the tangy taste, missing out on all the fermentation benefits I've just described.
My verdict? Genuine, slowly-fermented sourdough is indeed a healthier option for most people – particularly if you struggle with digestive issues after eating regular bread.
But check the ingredients; don't let the sourdough label blind you to poor-quality ingredients underneath.
Why Brown Bread Is Healthier Than White
This might seem obvious, but bear with me – knowing the exact "why" behind this nutritional wisdom will help you appreciate why it's important to prioritise those loaves with 'wholemeal flour' as their first ingredient.
To make white flour used in white bread, manufacturers literally strip away the most nutritious parts of the wheat grain.
They remove the bran (the fibre-rich outer layer) and the germ (the nutrient-dense core), leaving behind mostly the starchy endosperm.
What You Lose in White Flour Processing
Fibre:Â Up to 80% gets removed, which means your blood sugar spikes faster, you feel hungry sooner, and your gut bacteria don't get the feast they deserve!
Healthy fats:Â The wheat germ contains essential fatty acids that support brain and heart health and are needed to actually absorb the fat-soluble vitamins
Protein:Â While not huge amounts, whole grains do contribute to your daily protein needs, with white bread containing around 50% less protein than brown
B vitamins: Critical for energy metabolism and nervous system function, especially lacking in many people following a plant-based diet
Minerals: Iron, magnesium, zinc, and selenium – all significantly reduced in white flour
The Real-World Impact
Brown bread keeps your blood sugar more stable (no 3pm energy crash), feeds your gut bacteria, and actually provides nutrients your body can use. White bread is essentially just fast-releasing sugar.
In fact, white bread is often used as a reference point with a glycaemic index (GI) of 100. This means that other carbohydrate-containing foods are compared to white bread to determine their GI, which indicates how quickly they raise blood sugar levels.
You can try this out for yourself – pop a piece of white bread in your mouth, chew it ~ 50 times, and you will start to taste the sweetness as the glucose molecules are already being released in your mouth.
And yes, I appreciate manufacturers of white bread have to "fortify" it by adding back synthetic versions of some nutrients they stripped out, but like anything artificially added in its extracted form, their benefit to our complex biology is negligible. It's like breaking your leg, then offering you crutches!
Is Organic Bread Actually Healthier?
There's a near 50% chance that the bread you choose for lunch still contains a concoction of chemical residues.
The most widely used herbicide in wheat production in the UK is glyphosate, which is a probable carcinogen and is restricted in many other European countries due to its proven impact on destroying everything from bees to gut bacteria.
Yet most wheat farmers in the UK liberally spray it on their crops in a bid to kill off any competing plants and to dry the wheat quicker and more evenly – all in an attempt to get better profit margins. (no blame on the farmers here, I know they are being squeezed).
I have seen clients (and you may have experienced this yourself) who usually have quite bad digestive discomfort when eating bread in the UK, find that when they enjoy a proper French baguette on holiday (where glyphosate is restricted), they have no real issues – could it be the chemical mix we are consuming within our bread-based lunch that is the real reason our digestive system is rejecting it?
The Chemical Concern
Recent studies have linked glyphosate exposure to disrupted gut bacteria, potential hormone disruption, and increased cancer risk – though the long-term effects are still being researched (likely hindered by the billion-pound agrochemical industry).
The point is, do you really want to be part of that ongoing experiment with your daily lunch?
But it's not just glyphosate. Conventional wheat may be treated with fungicides, insecticides, and other compounds throughout the growing season.
These chemicals can accumulate in your system over time, and your liver has to work harder to process them out – who knows what damage they are doing in the meantime.
The irony is, that by choosing the healthier 'wholemeal' versions of bread, you are actually getting an increased dose of these toxins as many of them remain in the outer husk which is still present.
The Organic Advantage
The nutrient advantage:Â Studies have shown that organic crops contain higher levels of protective nutrients and antioxidants compared to their conventionally grown counterparts.
Interestingly, it is thought that as organic farming practices avoid synthetic fertilisers, the plants have to develop more of their own natural protective compounds to survive – the result being more nutritionally beneficial grains!
So by choosing organic, not only are you avoiding the toxins, you are saying yes to more health-protective compounds.
My take? If you're eating bread regularly (which, let's face it, most of us are), choosing organic reduces your daily chemical load and often provides better nutrition.
Yes, it costs more (and is annoyingly hard to find) – but consider it an investment in not having to detox from your lunch.
The caveat:Â Organic doesn't automatically mean healthy. An organic white bread made with industrial processing and a heap of additives isn't necessarily better than a high-quality conventional wholemeal loaf. Always check those ingredients first.
6. What Is Ultra-Processed Bread?
You've probably heard the term "ultra-processed foods" (UPF) thrown around a lot lately – and for good reason. UPF foods have been linked to everything from increased inflammation to higher risks of heart disease and even certain cancers.
Ultra-processed bread is characterised by industrial formulations that bear little resemblance to traditional bread-making.
According to the NOVA classification system (the gold standard for categorising food processing), UPF breads contain ingredients you wouldn't find in a home kitchen and are made using industrial processes designed for mass production, extended shelf life, and enhanced palatability.
What Makes Bread Ultra-Processed?
High-speed industrial processing:Â The Chorleywood Bread Process uses mechanical energy and chemical additives to speed up what should be a slow, natural fermentation process.
This results in a bread product that is very soft, easy to eat, and often ends up bypassing any satiety signals.
How To Spot Ultra Processed Ingredients In Bread: The UPF Red Flags & Why to Avoid Them
Industrial Preservatives:
What they are:Â These chemicals extend shelf life to reduce the wastage costs of manufacturers and supermarkets.
Aliases include: Calcium propionate, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, cysteine hydrochloride (E920).
Why you don't want them in your bread:Â They largely work by inhibiting the growth of bacteria, but we need to remember that not all bacteria is 'bad' or harmful.
The trillions of bacteria living in our human bodies are vital for keeping our bodies functioning – we don't want to be destroying them whilst enjoying our lunch.
Emulsifiers and Stabilisers:
What they are: Emulsifiers combine substances that naturally would separate, largely fat and water. In bread, they bind with starch and gluten to improve gas retention and dough stability, resulting in a larger, softer loaf and delayed staling.
Aliases include:Â E471 (mono- and di-glycerides of fatty acids), E472e, E481 (sodium stearoyl-2 lactylate), E482 (calcium stearoyl-2 lactylate), and E322 (lecithin).
Why you don't want them in your bread: When swollowed, emulsifiers don't just bind ingredients in your bread, but bind molecules in your body that shouldn't be bound – including the fat and water in the mucus lining your digestive tract.
Emulsifiers have been linked to anxiety, increased inflammation, compromised gut barrier function, and microbiome alterations – not helpful when creating a healthy, strong gut -the foundation for overall health.
Artificial Flavours and Colours:
What they are: Sometimes added to mimic or enhance taste, or to make refined bread a more appealing brown colour.
Aliases include: Vanillin, ethyl maltol, caramel colour (E150a-d).
Why you don't want them in your bread:Â Any bread that needs artificial flavouring to taste good is already telling you something's wrong. Real bread gets its flavour from fermentation and quality ingredients.
Refined Oils and Trans Fats:
What they are:Â Added to contribute to a softer, moister crumb and extend freshness.
Aliases include: Rapeseed oil, palm oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil.
Why you don't want them in your bread:Â These heavily processed oils undergo extreme heat, chemical drying, bleaching, neutralisation, deodorisation, and degumming. Each step strips away natural nutrients while introducing toxic residues, leaving an extremely pro-inflammatry ingredient.
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Added Sugars:
What they are:Â Often sneaked in to make bread taste more appealing and help with the yeast reaction.
Aliases include: Glucose syrup, dextrose, maltodextrin, sucrose, fructose, maltose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, fruit juice concentrate, molasses.
Why you don't want them in your bread:Â With a product already high in carbohydrates, bread shouldn't need added sugar. These refined sugars contribute negatively to blood glucose and insulin production and potentially disrupt gut microbiome.
Thickeners:
What they are:Â In bread baking, thickeners are substances added to dough to increase viscosity and improve texture. Particularly useful in gluten-free bread.
Aliases include:Â Guar gum, xanthan gum, cornstarch, tapioca starch, potato starch, maltodextrin, carrageenan, locust bean gum
Why you don't want them in your bread:Â Many people experience bloating, gas, or stomach discomfort from thickeners like xanthan gum, guar gum, or carrageenan.
Guar gum has also been linked to gut inflammation and negative alterations to our precious gut microbiome.
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The Simple UPF Test:
Here's my quick litmus test: Could your great-grandmother have made this bread in her kitchen with the ingredients listed? If the answer is no, it's likely UPF.
Traditonal bread requires just flour, water, salt, and yeast (or sourdough starter). If you're looking at an ingredients list longer than your weekly shopping list, with words that sound like they belong in a chemistry lab, you're holding UPF bread.
Shopping Guide: What To Look For When Buying Healthier Non UPF Bread In The UK
How to spot the health hijackers: My go-to 5 'Rules' for choosing the healthiest non UPF bread when i'm in a supermarket
Right, let's get practical. I've developed five go-to guides I personally use when choosing bread, to help ensure it’s actually supporting my health rather than undermining it.
These five rules will help you identify the healthier, least processed loaves and avoid overly processed options that can undermine your health.
My 5 Guiding 'Rules' for Choosing Healthy Bread:
Only contains ingredients you find in your own kitchen. If the ingredients list reads like a chemistry textbook, it's not real food. You should be able to understand every single ingredient and be able to easily buy it yourself to have available in your kitchen.
No vegetable oils. If you see sunflower oil, palm oil, rapeseed oil, or any other industrial seed oil on the ingredients list, put it back. These oils are highly processed, prone to oxidation, and inflammatory. You'll be undermining all your health goals with this one.
No more than 3-day shelf life. If the bread stays 'fresh' for longer than this, then you know something suspicious is going on! The likelihood is there are some kind of preservatives added, perhaps in the flour itself, which may not always be listed in the ingredients.
A caveat to this - since testing various non UPF breads, i've noticed some, such as rye breads & some wraps seem to have long use by dates - it seems that when vacuum packaging is used, shelf life is substantially increased,without the use of additives. But importantly, these non UPF breads don't tend to last much more than 3 days once opened.
Look for the words Organic, Wholemeal and/or Sourdough. Ideally you want bread that has used the 'whole' grain with nothing stripped away, without any chemical residues, and that has gone through a slow fermentation process.
No added sugar (in all its guises). We want to be minimising the impact on our blood glucose when enjoying our bread. Avoid anything with added sugar, glucose syrup, maltose, maltodextrin, sucrose, or other sweeteners that have no business being in bread.
Top 10 Healthiest Supermarket Breads (UK)Â
Nutritionist's top 10 (tried and tested) pick of the best non UPF breads you can buy at your local supermarket in 2025.
Without a doubt, making your own bread is the healthiest option but let’s face it, we don’t always have the time and energy for all that kneading and proving. So, I wanted to discover the healthiest, least processed loaves that I could pick up in my weekly supermarket shop.
I've spent countless hours combing through the bread aisles of the UK's major supermarkets to identify the rare gems that escape the ultra-processed food (UPF) category.
Below are my top picks for cleaner, more natural, less processed breads:
1. Bertinet Bakery Seven Seeds & Grains Sourdough Bread
Available at:Â Waitrose, Ocado Fibre per 100g:Â 4.6g Protein per 100g:Â 9.7g Organic:Â No Number of ingredients:Â 15
Health highlight:Â Yes, it contains 15 ingredients (more than some UPF breads), but all these ingredients are 'real foods' with no sign of any veg oils, emulsifiers or preservatives.
Variety is the spice of life with this loaf as you are benefitting from a range of omega-3 seeds as well as more ancient wholegrains such as rye, emmer wheat & spelt which generally retain more of their natural nutrients and fibre than heavily processed modern wheat.
Bertinet Bakery also uses the slow fermentation process, makes it gentler on digestion and will help give you a lunch that is less likely to result in that afternoon nap craving!
Lunch serving suggestion:Â
This was probably one of the tastiest non UPF loaves i've tried and was delicious simply toasted with loads of butter! I particularly love the crunchy, slightly sweet & nutty millet seeds in the crust.
It does have a relatively dry, dense texture (as most 'real' breads do) so it doesn't make a great sarnie but it did work really well toasted and dipped in my beetroot, potato & garlic soup!
I reckon it would also work really nicely as a bruschetta loaded with fresh tomatoes and olive oil as it goes nice and crispy when toasted and the slices are relatively thin.
Available at:Â Tesco, Waitrose, Ocado, Morrisons (Asda & Sainsbury's sell some of the other Jason's sliced sourdough)
Fibre per 100g:Â 6.5g
Protein per 100g:Â 11.7g
Organic:Â No
Number of ingredients:Â 6
Health highlight:Â I've found it surprisingly difficult to find a sourdough loaf made from wholemeal flour, so I was nicely surprised when I saw this in Jason's range.
It's a winner because you get the benefits of slow fermentation plus the nutrients from the whole grain - with the germ and bran included, it delivers a good dose of fibre and protein.
Jason's as a whole is a great non-UPF go-to range as they typically use minimal ingredients with no artificial additives or preservatives and it's pretty widely available.
Do still check the ingredients though, as I have noticed some of their bread such as their tiger rolls contain the likes of dextrose, rapeseed oil and ammonium carbonates – additives you want to avoid where possible.
Lunch serving suggestion:Â
Works brilliantly toasted with guacamole & salmon. Pretty kid-friendly too for those who don't like 'bits' in their bread!
Unfortunately this bread was a bit too dry to be used as sarnies the next day but worked well toasted for a good few days (cream cheese & cucumber was a moreish lunch combo too!)
Available at:Â Ocado
Fibre per 100g:Â 3.2g
Protein per 100g:Â 8.2g
Organic:Â Yes
Number of ingredients:Â 13
Health highlight:Â The first ingredient in this loaf (and thus the main element) is organic Malted Flour from Shipton Mill.
This is a win because the malted grains go through the sprouting process that activates beneficial enzymes and makes nutrients more bioavailable.
The combination of organic certification, traditional stone-grinding that preserves nutrients, and use of sprouted grains makes this flour a healthier choice than conventional processed flours.
Lunch serving suggestion:Â
This looked and tasted exactly how you would expect a non UPF sourdough loaf to be! It had a beautiful wholesome smell and a texture that had a good bite to it but wasn’t too dense.
I enjoyed it for lunch with a poached egg and the late summer veg that had just arrived with my veg box – chard, tomatoes & flat leaf parsley & some turmeric sauerkraut for added probiotics!
A great additive-free, unprocessed supermarket bread, just a shame it doesn’t last more than a couple of days and its packaging has light blue blobs on it which I repeatedly thought was mould!
4. Modern Baker Seedy Seedy Sourdough Loaf
Available at:Â Ocado
Fibre per 100g: 9g
Protein per 100g:Â 10.5g
Organic:Â Yes
Number of ingredients:Â 9
Health highlight:Â With 12% seeds, this sliced bread smashes the other wheat loaves out of the water when it comes to fibre content, offering an impressive 9g per 100g (over 3x that of broccoli!).
Great for supporting your microbiome and likely your blood glucose too. It claims to have been 'crafted by hand' using a traditional 48-hour fermentation process with only organic stoneground flour, making it somewhat comparable to loaves you'd find at your local artisan bakery (in terms of price too!).
But watch out, The Modern Baker's signature "healthy" loaf 'Superloaf Seeded & Sliced' is not one I would include in this list and doesn't pass the 'non-UPF' test in my eyes – it contains 21 ingredients, some of which include vegetable oils and thickeners such as guar gum and acacia gum.
Lunch serving suggestion:
I tried this bread with one of my favourite go-to quick meals - dippy egg! On it's own, I found this bread to have quite a heavy, almost rubbery texture and strong flavour (may have been the added vinegar), but when eaten with butter dipped in rich egg yolk, it was actually really tasty. It's thick seedy structure made a great dipping 'soldier'!
I imagine it would also work perfect dunked in hearty soups – the seeds add lovely texture and keep you satisfied for a good few hours.
Available at:Â Waitrose, Sainsburys, Ocado, (Tesco sell the non-organic version)
Fibre per 100g:Â 4.5g
Protein per 100g:Â 7.8g
Organic:Â Yes
Number of ingredients:Â 5
Health highlight: The only non-UPF wraps I could find in a supermarket – these have just 5 ingredients, all of which are 'real' foods you probably already have in your kitchen – simply flour (whole & white), water, salt and extra virgin olive oil.
I discovered my usual wholemeal wrap I previously bought from Sainsbury's has 15 ingredients?!
It's organic too which means you know you won't be getting any gut disrupting chemicals in your lunchtime wrap.
Wrap With No crap -Best Non-UPF Wrap Option!
Lunch serving suggestion:Â
I made a pretty random wrap combo of what I had in my fridge (fried mushroom with turmeric & onions, chicken tikka, avocado, tomato and sauerkraut!) but it worked pretty well.
The wrap itself, or should I say 'flatbread' as it is officially labelled, was really quite thick and substantial and kept me nicely satiated until dinner.
Ideally the wrap needs to be heated slightly – this could be done in microwave at work - though my kids did enjoy a non-heated cheese and spinach wrap in their lunchbox and it (largely!) got eaten.
The only 'issue' I have with this bread is it has a use by date of over 2 months(!) which goes against my Rule 3 (No more than 3 day shelf life.) However, with no unnatural preservatives in sight, I'll take that as an added bonus (pretty sure it’s down to the vacuum packing used)!
Available at:Â Ocado, Tesco
Fibre per 100g:Â 11g
Protein per 100g:Â 6g
Health highlight:Â If you're looking for a loaf that will keep you satisfied longest without causing blood sugar spikes, try this rye bread.
This is largely due to rye containing significantly more fibre than wheat - this loaf offers 11g per 100g. Rye also provides a wider variety of nutrients including vitamin K, choline, and vitamin E, which aren't typically found so much in wheat-based breads.
Interestingly, due to its fibre, and antioxidant content, rye may help the body detoxify excess oestrogen and has been shown in studies to reduce breast cancer risk.
Waitrose do offer a similar non UPF organic rye: Schneider Brot Rye Bread with Sunflower Seeds.
Lunch serving suggestion:Â
Like all rye breads, this loaf had a very dense, texture and strong dark flavour so it really needs something moist & equally as flavoursome to accompany it. I had mine with homemade smoky baked beans and it was delicious! This is one of the few loaves I’ve tested that would hold up against the saucy beans and not go soggy!
This lunch genuinely kept me full right up until dinner. I will be recommending this to clients largely due to its great fibre content (something most of us aren’t getting enough of) and the fact all its' ingredients are organic is a big plus.
Biona’s rye bread was also a tasty accompaniment to creamy scrambled eggs & sautéed mushrooms. I also tried a less savoury meal with it topped with Greek yoghurt, walnuts and fig! My kids loved it and I did too as it meant they were getting a great fibre boost!
Available at:Â M&S, Ocado
Fibre per 100g:Â 2.6g
Protein per 100g:Â 8.9g
Organic:Â No
Number of ingredients:Â 10 (claims to have "Only 5 Ingredients" but not if you break down the different flours, added gluten & wheat flakes)
Health highlight:Â
If you're looking for a nice soft roll for your lunch, these are a good option as they contain no additives or preservatives like the overwhelming majority of bread rolls sold in supermarkets.
It also contains 11% Wildfarmed flour which is likely to have naturally higher levels of nutrients (see below!).
It's taste and texture is directly comparable to your standard white supermarket rolls, so perfect for those used to that soft squishy texture of UPF bread!
There was something about this roll that did feel pretty processed however, probably the sole use of processed white flour (and the 5 different 'types' of wheat used!) Â
Nonetheless, if you do enjoy a roll at lunchtime, at least with this one you will be avoiding a lot of the unnecessary additives that come as standard in most supermarket rolls.
Other non-UPF bread rolls I have come across include Jason's Every Day White Bread Rolls with Sourdough, Waitrose Ciabatta Rolls & Sainsbury's Stonebaked Ciabatta.
Lunch serving suggestion:
 I enjoyed these rolls with ham hock, sauerkraut, rocket and Natoora’s turmeric hummus – felt pretty substantial and the sturdy roll worked well with substantial sandwich fillings such as this.
I feel you do need something to add a bit of crunch though with these soft rolls! Sauerkraut, red cabbage or crispy onions would do the trick nicely!
Available at:Â Tesco and Waitrose
Fibre per 100g:Â 6.4g
Protein per 100g:Â 11.7g
Organic:Â No (although Wildfarmed wheat uses fewer insecticides and herbicides)
Number of ingredients:Â 14 (6 of these are different types of seeds!)
Health highlight:Â This Wildfarmed seeded bread uses wildfarmed wheat flour produced through regenerative agriculture - farming methods that restore soil health, increase biodiversity and reduce chemical inputs.
From a health perspective, this results in a bread that has higher levels of natural nutrients due to the improved health of the soil (it all starts with the soil!).
It is thought that crops grown under these Standards contain 30% more antioxidants compared to those conventionally grown.
The seeds also offer a fairly decent protein hit, helping you feel fuller quicker at lunchtime.
Best non-UPF bread for making sandwiches!Â
The thing I like most about this bread? It makes a great sandwich! Of all the breads I tested, this one has the best soft texture that holds up beautifully for several days - perfect for sandwiches. Most other non UPF loaves I tried were on the drier side and needed toasting after day 2 to get the best results.
Lunch serving suggestion:
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This Wildfarmed seeded bread was the perfect size and texture for a good old sandwich. I enjoyed it with several combos but my favourite was grated cheese, cucumber and beetroot.
Brilliant for classic sandwiches that need to hold together well and require that comforting softness!
I also really enjoyed this bread for lunch with fried mushrooms & yellow courgettes - in fact I would challenge you to find a topping that wouldn't be pals with this easy-going bread!
Available at:Â Tesco
Fibre per 100g:Â 5.5g
Protein per 100g:Â 9.3g
Organic:Â No
Number of ingredients:Â 20 (appreciate this sounds a lot but they all seem pretty legit!)
Health highlight:Â One of the reasons I included this one was to spread the bread-love across other supermarkets as I've realised that the majority of the non-UPF breads can only be found in the higher-end, more expensive supermarkets (promise this post isn't an Ocado ad!).
This slow fermented sourdough can be found in the UK's most shopped-at supermarket.
It contains the widest variety of plant ingredients out of all the breads I tried- from lentils and chickpeas to red quinoa and pumpkin seeds. Opting for this sourdough is a nice way to get a variety of plant powered nutrients into your lunch.
It is a very dense loaf and every time I picked it up I was taken aback as to how heavy it was!
However, this density and variety of grains, seeds & legumes makes it a very substantial loaf. It works great as an open top sandwich that won’t fall apart, and its’ earthy flavour makes it a great accompaniment to soup.
Lunch serving suggestion:Â
The texture of this supermarket sourdough works great as an open top sandwich for lunch.
I enjoyed it lightly toasted topped with king prawns, pesto (look for those that use olive over sunflower oil), rocket and pepper. It didn’t go at all soggy and the dense texture made it a substantial, filling lunch time option.
Available at:Â Waitrose
Fibre per 100g:Â 14.3g
Protein per 100g:Â 9.8g
Organic:Â No
Number of ingredients:Â 11
Health highlight:Â
Healthiest Non-UPF Gluten-free Bread!Â
Most gluten-free loaves are the epitome of ultra-processed foods, so as someone who can tolerate gluten, I typically don't give them a second look.
However, during my non-UPF bread trials, I came across this intriguing exception. Not only is it low in carbs, but it boasts the highest protein AND fibre content of all the breads I've tested.
The ingredient list—oats, sunflower seeds, linseeds, golden linseeds, pumpkin seeds, millet seeds—reads like a premium granola mix.
This translates to naturally high levels of magnesium and omega-3s, nutrients that we chronically stressed worker bees desperately need more of in our diets.
Lunch serving suggestion:
This gluten free bread didn't have the same spongy texture as your standard loaf but the taste was really lovely. You could taste all the individual seeds and it really felt like you were eating something very nourishing.
I enjoyed it toasted with extra virgin olive oil hummus, mackerel & radish. Although small slices, I found it really substantial and filling.
Top 10 Non-UPF Bread Comparison Table
Whilst all the above are pretty decent options for choosing a bread that isn't ultra processed, it was disappointing to see that a lot of these still have white wheat flour as the first ingredient, only 4 are organic and the likes of Asda, Aldi and Lidl where a lot of us choose to shop had very few, if any, non UPF breads on offer. Up your bread game please!
These loaves ranged in price from £2.15 up to a hefty £5 per loaf and the selection definitely increased as you moved towards the more expensive supermarkets such as Waitrose and Ocado.
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However, I think it’s so important that healthy food isn’t just seen as a privilege for those who have more disposable income. That’s why I have put together our Eat Well, Spend Less Workplace Nutrition Workshop to share practical ideas with teams on how it is very much possible to have a healthy diet on a budget.
Two Common Mistakes My Clients Make When Choosing ‘Healthy’ Bread
Motivated to find ‘healthier bread, there are 2 common mistakes I often see my clients making that I wanted to share.
Mistake #1: Getting Played by Packaging
Bread manufacturers are getting wise and choosing colours, words and branding that position it as a healthy & natural product when often this is far from the case if you turn it over and read the ingredient list (often in a very tiny font!)
Words like 'granary', ‘farmhouse’ ‘high fibre’ or 'seeded' with images of swathes of fresh wheat immediately make us think "healthy choice!" But don’t be deceived!
Take Warburtons Wholemeal 'No Added Sugar' bread with the words ‘High Fibre’ and ‘Rich in Wholegrains’ plastered on a green background—appears pretty virtuous, doesn't it? Flip it over though, and you'll find it's packed with vegetable oils, three different emulsifiers, and a bunch of preservatives. Classic ultra-processed food gas lighting!
Mistake #2: Getting Excited About 'High Protein' Breads
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I get it, everyone’s all about the protein and yes, most of us could do with more of it—But…these ‘high protein’ loaves are usually just pumped full of even more processed extras like wheat protein isolate (fancy name for concentrated gluten) and soya meal. Not exactly the wholesome boost your body needs.
The bottom line? Don't let the front-of-pack marketing do the thinking for you. The real story is always in that ingredients list on the back—that's where you'll find out what’s actually going into your lunch.
The problem with good quality, non-UPF breads is they don't last long—no preservatives means they go off quickly. I used to watch expensive sourdough turn stale after just a couple of days. So frustrating!
I even tried storing it in the fridge but it actually seemed to go stale quicker.
Here's my game-changing hack: freeze your bread!
Now, if I’m not 100% confident I’m going to use it all in the next few days, I will wrap up around half the loaf as soon as I get home and straight into the freezer it goes.
I've tested this with sourdough, wraps, seeded sliced loaves—they all freeze brilliantly.
If you forget to take some out the night before to defrost, you can just pop slices straight from freezer to toaster.
Here's the bonus: freezing may actually make your bread healthier.
When bread is frozen, the starch can form a more crystalline structure that's harder for digestive enzymes to break down.
This means, even once defrosted, the starch behaves more like fibre, leading to a slower rise in blood sugar.
This also allows you to make the most of those reduced price loaves of bread going cheap at the end of the day!
So, What Is The Healthiest Bread To Have With My Lunch?
The gold standard? Without a doubt-Make it yourself. There's no doubt that making your own bread with whole, natural quality ingredients is the healthiest option.
Use organic wholemeal flour—ideally stoneground and wild-farmed—and embrace the slow fermentation method. This gives you complete control over every ingredient while maximizing digestibility and nutritional value.
Here's a nice simple whole wheat sourdough recipe to try. I also love the organic stone ground flours sold by Hodmedod's.
No time or baking skills? I get it, life can be too busy for kneading and proving, in which case, your local bakery is your next best bet. Look for places that bake on-site using real ingredients without artificial additives. Many local bakers take pride in traditional methods that put supermarket loaves to shame.
Hunt down your local artisans. Farmers markets are goldmines for finding passionate local bakers. You can also use the Real Bread Campaign's bakery finder to locate authentic bread makers in your area. Some even offer delivery—I often get mine delivered from Natural Bread through my local veg box scheme (Sandy Lane Farm).
If you're not blessed with local artisan bakers, artisan bakery chains are a solid middle ground. Places like Gail's, Ole & Steen, and Bread Ahead offer genuinely good quality loaves that generally respect traditional baking principles.
Stuck with supermarket shopping? Don't despair—just be selective. Use the guide above to navigate past the ultra-processed options that dominate the shelves and seek out the few gems that actually nourish rather than disrupt your gut health.
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 12. Conclusion: 2026 Bread Predictions- Are We About To Ditch Processed Bread for Good?
Since delving deeper for this guide, I've been noticing something interesting –I feel artisan bread is having a moment. The likes of Gail's is popping up in every town, the Real Bread Campaign has built up a proper following and suddenly everyone's talking about ultra-processed foods.
It got me thinking: are we finally catching up with the rest of Europe? In France or Germany, decent bread with actual ingredients is just the norm. Something fresh they buy daily from real bakers with no weird additives, no month-long shelf life – just flour, water, salt, and yeast.
Remember how we used to be perfectly happy with instant coffee? Then suddenly everyone became obsessed with single-origin beans and getting the perfect grind. I reckon bread's next.
We're getting wise to what's actually in those spongy supermarket loaves, and frankly, it's not pretty.
The signs are everywhere – independent bakeries popping up, people actually reading ingredient lists, friends posting their sourdough experiments on social media.
It feels like we're at that tipping point where "real bread" stops being a middle-class luxury and becomes something we all expect.
Mark my words: in a few years, we'll wonder how we ever ate that processed stuff!
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Predicted Food Trend for 2026: The Rise of Real Bread
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You heard it here first!
This article is for information only, not medical advice
What's you go-to non UPF loaf you get in your weekly shop? I'd love to hear in the comments below.
About the Writer
Steph Ley is a qualified corporate nutritionist and founder of The Nutrition Advantage. She holds a BSc in Business Management & Leadership (First Class) from Exeter University and a Nutritional Therapy Diploma NTDC (Distinction) from the renowned Institute of Optimum Nutrition.
Steph is a registered member of the Association of Naturopathic Practitioners (ANP) and the General Naturopathic Council (GNC).
With expertise spanning nutrition science and business leadership, Steph specialises in translating complex nutritional research into practical strategies for busy professionals. She brings the benefits of nutrition into the workplace through corporate nutrition workshops, nutrition webinars & more.
Her approach centres on evidence-based nutrition that empowers rather than restricts, with a particular focus on using food to optimise energy.
Her mission is simple: to challenge how people see food and unlock its transformative power to help you live the life you crave – because we weren't designed to eat pretend bread!Â
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