What tastes sickly sweet, can sit on the shelf for eons without getting green and is able to ruin a perfectly good sandwich instantaneously? American bread, of course! Most American loaves contain high fructose corn syrup (hence the sweet taste) along with many preservatives that render the bread almost unrecognisable in taste and texture in comparison to even a cheap British loaf. British bread contains wheat flour (milled from 100% British wheat, don't you know), water, yeast, salt, soya flour, fermented wheat flour, vegetable fat, and emulsifiers E472e, E471 made from Vegetable Oils). American bread contains enriched bleached flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate (Vitamin B1), riboflavin (Vitamin B2), folic acid, skim milk, high fructose corn syrup and yeast. It also contains two percent or less of the following: Or Less of Each of The Following: butter (cream, water, salt), salt, wheat gluten, dough conditioners (may contain one or more of the following: sodium stearoyl lactylate, mono- and diglycerides, calcium peroxide, enzymes, ascorbic acid (Azodicarbonamide), yeast nutrients (monocalcium phosphate, calcium sulfate, ammonium sulfate), cornstarch, calcium propionate (preservative), soy lecithin, soy flour. Quite the difference. The actual methods of bread making also differ slightly between the countries although this is unlikely to have a big impact on the taste. Another big difference is the price American bread is significantly more expensive than English bread, if you want to buy a halfway decent loaf. The only real alternatives are the high-end artisan breads which can be very expensive or taking the time and effort to make your own, but I've been reliably informed that only Jamie Oliver has been able to pull that trick off.
