The Most Unhealthy Store-Bought Breads You Should Think Twice About Before Eating

Welcome, fellow bread heads. Gather close and carb-load with me as I profile some of the biggest names in Big Bread while running through the nutrition content that knocks these loaves down a few shelves. (Sorry, not sorry, Cheesecake Factory "brown" bread.)

For the record, I love bread and would never cast aspersions upon a loaf that didn't (kind of) deserve it. In the name of sorting out the less-healthy options available from this carbaceous cuisine — one that's gotten a lingering bad rep thanks to celebrity fad diets — I kept it simple when looking for red flags. High added sugar (it can be different from the amount of total sugar which also includes sugars naturally occurring in food); high sodium content (the American Heart Association recommends 1,500 milligrams daily for adults); and low fiber (fiber helps slow your digestion and balance blood sugar) were all indicators I took into account.

Still, anyone could spot a few of these suspects from a mile away. But there might be some others you'll no longer be able to look in the "rye." However you slice it, think twice about loafing around with these unhealthy store-bought breads.  

We've all thought about biting into a party pack of King's Hawaiian sweet rolls just to experience that unbridled, pillowy texture. (Okay, maybe that was just me.) But there's a reason King's Hawaiian tastes too good to be good for you: It's the added sugar.

It's all part of the aloha spirit behind the Hawaii-born brand that's been cranking out its signature recipe since the 1950s. Inspired by the baking of Portuguese immigrants living on the island before it was even a U.S. state, this bread is meant to taste pleasantly sweet — and it's got the added sugar to show for it.

Combining the forces of multiple rolls, King's Hawaiian Round Sweet Bread packs a whopping 9 grams of added sugar into every 1-inch slice. With The American Heart Association recommending no more than 36 grams of sugar for men and 25 grams for ladies per day, King's Hawaiian gets the sugar rush rolling with up to a third of your max sugar intake before you ever put anything on your slice. Overall, one slice equals 170 calories, 4 grams fat, 150 milligrams sodium, and 29 grams carbs.

It's the best bread for burgers and sandwiches, and the bun of choice for Shake Shack, Bludso's Bar & Que, and Coop De Villefor a reason; Martin's Potato Rolls taste like golden, buttery marshmallows made with actual potatoes. But as any longtime fan might guess, this sweet bread is also made with added sugar.

Flipping the rolls into a loaf, Martin's Sandwich Potato Bread cuts slices that each feature 2 grams of added sugar. While it's as much as some other brands on this list, it's not as low as it could be. With a quick look at the ingredients, you'll find sugar and cane sugar syrup contributing to the flavor profile. Those types of non-nutritious (or empty) calories like the ones from sugar can lead to health issues like type-2 diabetes, heart disease, and increased weight.

There's bound to be a higher amount of added sugar when it's noted in a prominent position on the ingredients list. For Martin's, sugar is named in the 5th and 6th spots (and also before the phrase "contains two percent or less of the following" which means the amounts are so small that the ingredients are no longer listed by weight). Regarding "everything in moderation," watch as my best friend potato bread retires like a vampire into its coffin. Because one slice is 90 calories, and has 1.5 grams fat, and 105 milligrams of sodium.

White bread may be a quintessential Southern BBQ thing, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy it any place, at anytime. But in the version from Sara Lee — the brand that also brings you pound cake, butter streusel coffee cake, and New York style cheesecake — you'll find the nutrition to be lacking for a healthy loaf.

While the brand offers other healthier bread options,buttery, white Sara Lee Texas Toast tells its own story on nutrition. You'll find 2 grams of added sugar per serving (sugar is also listed 3rd for ingredients), but another element to note is the sodium content. Texas toast is cut thick to soak up sauces and stand up to grilling, usually reaching a ¾-inch to 1-inch thickness per slice. But while the size is above average, so is the sodium content at 200 milligrams per serving. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that high sodium intake can spike blood pressure which can lead to the top killers for Americans; stroke and heart disease. (Is there an Oklahoma toast that might be a little less salty?) This bread has 100 calories to a slice, and 1.5 grams of fat.

From the farm that raised devastatingly perfect Milano cookies comes a white bread that'll really put some meat on your bones. (If only it wasn't made with so much added sugar and sodium.)

With the average slice of white bread clocking in at 0.6 grams of dietary fiber, the Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Hearty White Bread version squeezes in a superior 1 gram per serving. But with sugar tapping in at third on the ingredients list, it was no big reveal that this recipe boasted 4 grams of added sugar. Things look even worse when you consider the 230 milligrams of sodium content which accounts for 10% of the recommended daily intake. That might not seem like much, but the math on two slices — aka, a sandwich — adds up to 20% of your daily allowance. With Americans typically exceeding the FDA's recommendation of 2,300 milligrams of sodium by eating an average of 3,400 milligrams of sodium per day, it might help our case to choose bread with a little less salt. A serving of one slice is 130 calories, and has 1 gram of fat.

The Bimbo brand name combines the movie "Bambi" and the song "Bingo," but its regular white bread is a combination of sugar and sodium. (It's a less catchy combo, not nutritionally balanced, and Bimbo was it's name-o.)

Bimbo Soft White Bread enters the chat with a two-slice serving that limps out of the gate with less than 1 gram of dietary fiber. A relatively low but still 2 grams of added sugar (the sugar ingredient is listed third) only puts the icing on the cake when it comes to this brand's sodium content. Two slices of Bimbo soft white bread dish out 290 milligrams of sodium, or 13% of the recommended daily value. But it becomes even more serious for kids. As the Mayo Clinic notes, children under 3 years old should eat less than 1,200 milligrams of sodium per day (less than half a teaspoon of table salt). The sodium content in this Bimbo bread takes a significant toll on a healthy PB&J regimen. Two slices of Bimbo bread has 150 calories, and 2 grams of fat.

Just in case you saw this loaf and somehow instantly pictured a kale salad, here's some devastating news. Despite naming mainly fruit in its title, Heartland Orange Cranberry Bread also serves up a rather hefty amount of sugar and sodium with zero dietary fiber.

In the pro column is the brand's strikingly minimal ingredient list which features just eight items including unbleached, untreated wheat flour, along with fruit, salt, and yeast. Still, coming in third on this short list, you'll find sugar which contributes to the 6 grams of sugar per serving, along with the cranberries, orange juice, and orange peel.

There's also the sodium content which, at 250 milligrams per serving, ranks higher per slice than other brands on this list. This loaf boasts a homemade-style pedigree that offers no preservatives, extra fats, or chemicals, but if you're watching your sodium, you'll want to go with another brand. One slice is 120 calories, with 0 grams fat.

It's no one's fault for loving a buttery toasted slice of brioche. Ina Garten even has a brioche guy (okay, it's Eli Zabar's on New York City's Upper East Side). Studies have proven (don't look for these "studies") that precisely zero people can resist brioche on anything. From grilled cheese, to pork belly sliders, and fried mortadella sandwiches, we're defenseless against this sugary, sodium-laden bread.

Good news first: St. Pierre Sliced Brioche Loaf offers a nutritious 2 grams of dietary fiber, which beautifies your poops. (What a relief!) But then there's the bad news: Sugar is the second ingredient listed on the label, which accounts for the 8 grams of added sugar per 2-slice serving. Wowza! 

There's also 280 milligrams of sodium for two slices which isn't the worst of this list, but you could definitely find something that comes in at less than 12% of the recommended daily value. (Currently working on writing a sad brioche break-up song.) Two slices of St. Pierre Sliced Brioche Loaf is 220 calories, with 6 grams of fat.

You don't have to get a table at The Cheesecake Factory to enjoy its signature Brown Bread at home. You don't even have to bake it yourself, thanks to the brand's line of retail goods featuring wheat dinner rolls that taste just like the restaurant ones do (yep — sweetened with added sugar).

The Cheesecake Factory "Brown Bread" Wheat Dinner Rolls are a cult favorite thanks to their soft texture, unique flavor, and the fact that they come to your table warm and seemingly fresh from the oven. (Pass the butter please.) But the sweetness in these rolls doesn't come without some baggage.

The 4 grams of added sugar per roll-size serving appears to derive from the brown sugar and regular sugar listed as part of the ingredients. While those two sweeteners are happily mentioned after wheat flour, water, yeast, whole wheat flour, and oats, they still make the list as central ingredients to this recipe. Maybe skip the bread and save the sugar for an actual piece of cheesecake. A single roll is 110 calories, with 1 gram of fat, and 140 milligrams of sodium.

Think Wonder bread is the greatest thing since, well, sliced bread? That's because it basically is that "sliced bread," having debuted as one of the first-ever pre-sliced loaves back in the 1930s. But while the bag with the red letters and primary-colored balloons might tug on the heartstrings, the sugar in this white bread can potentially do a number on your heart.

Listed third on the ingredients label, good ol' sugar is responsible for the 5 grams of added sugar in every two slices of Wonder Classic White Bread. This manufacturer-added sweetener might extend the shelf-life of the loaf, but humans don't need any of the sweet stuff to thrive. The American Heart Association suggests keeping your added sugar intake to less than 6% of your total calories every day. For men that's roughly 150 calories daily (or 9 teaspoons of sugar) and for women it adds up to about 100 calories (or 6 teaspoons of sugar). Two slices of Wonder bread will get you 140 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, and 180 milligrams sodium.

Well, this one just sounds way too divine to be healthy. But instead of packing in the added sugar or going overboard on the sodium, La Boulangerie Super Flaky Croissant Toast goes where no other bread on this list has gone before: butterville.

First, a salt acknowledgement: 240 milligrams of sodium per single slice of this super flaky bread is, in fact, high in comparison to other brands. But where this loaf really dusts it up is in the fat content. With 7 grams of fat per serving, the 3 grams of added sugar are barely a consideration.

As butter takes the third spot on the ingredients list for this pastry-style bread, the fat content follows. How else would it be so flaky? But all that tastiness brings with it 4.5 grams of saturated fats as well. While good fats can benefit your heart and cholesterol levels, unhealthy saturated fats can raise your "bad" LDL cholesterol, which can trigger stroke and heart disease. One slice of this bread is 140 calories.

What appears to be an innocent, light Italian bread from Pennsylvania that just wants to have fun and move to the big city one day, actually fronts a high amount of sodium. But that doesn't stop Freihofer's Baking Company fans from loving on their favorite loaf.  

Freihofer's Premium Italian Bread is free of those, uh, pesky nuts and seeds found in (you know, amazing) whole grain breads, and barely requires chewing if you're making creamy-style peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. But there was no way Freihofer's was casually skipping by without a note about the sodium content. Salt appears before sugar on the ingredients label, racking up 230 milligrams of sodium per single slice, along with 80 calories, and 1 gram of fat. With sandwiches already acting as surprising sources of sodium, you'll probably want to look to another brand for a slice that's lighter on the salt. 

This is not a drill. Cinnabon Bakery Inspired Cinnamon Bread is everything you could want from your favorite pit-stop at the mall, except this time it's "prepared daily — in your toaster." (Okay, see that's clever because Cinnabons are made fresh every day, but at the store, not your house.)

Considering this brand's warm, cinnamon-filled, icing-topped reputation, it shouldn't be a shocker that its cinnamon bread contains added sugar. Maybe I'm floating on fresh-baked aromas, but the 6 grams of added sugar from granulated sugar and brown sugar seems lower than I was expecting. The 110 calorie count also feels light, but maybe I'm just stuck in a comparison loop with the Cinnabon Classic Cinnamon Roll which packs 880 calories, 59 grams of added sugar, and 1,150 milligrams of sodium per serving — which, in case you were wondering, is the entire bun. But don't do that. Instead, compare this Cinnabon cinnamon bread to the less sugary brands at the store.

Thomas' Everything Breakfast Bread might reign it in on the added sugar, but it goes whole hog on the sodium content. This everything bagel-inspired loaf boasts 210 milligrams of sodium (9% of the recommended daily value) for each of its regular-sized slices. It's a lot, when you consider that you might be eating two slices for a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich, or an open-faced avocado toast situation. 

While this brand gets down and dirty with the seasonings, the crunchy sesame seeds, flaxseeds, and poppy seeds in the crust also contribute to the nutritious 2 grams of dietary fiber. Okay, it might not be worth the higher sodium, but at least this brand offers something to wash down all that salt. One slice will also give you 110 calories, and 3 grams of fat. 

While this loaf sweeps in the evening gown competition with its swirly, twirly looks, it's just a little too salty to win Miss Grand Supreme. Rye bread might usually be a more nutrient-dense option than wheat bread, but marbled rye can sometimes throw down harder than other rye breads in the sodium department.

It might look like a cousin of chocolate babka, but Freshness Guaranteed Marble Rye Sandwich Bread is made from interwoven light and dark rye doughs, with what appears to be a pumpernickle flour adding the darker color. But this recipe certainly isn't missing anything in the flavor department thanks to its 250 milligrams of sodium in a single slice, with 110 calories, and 1.5 grams of fat. Just two slices into your day, and you've already hit 22% of the recommended daily sodium intake. (Hope you didn't put salty bacon on that sando.)

Other than the fact that I love bread and am therefore highly qualified to judge any and all carbs (hopefully via an in-person loaf flight of some kind), I also did my research on what makes or breaks balanced nutrition on the label.

Despite my not-secret crush on sugary, salty, empty carbs, it turns out that bread with high added sugar, high sodium, and low fiber content scraped the bottom of the barrel on nutritional value. (Was anyone else surprised that the Cinnabon loaf wasn't just gooey cinnamon rolls centipeded into a log? Yeah, um, me neither.) But the good news is that nutritious bread is usually right around the corner from its less nutrient-dense brethren. While we all respond to food in different ways, I hope you can enjoy a hearty whole grain, a white as snow sandwich loaf, a spectacular cinnamon toast, or a framed picture of a baguette on your "breadside" table.