Sandwich Revolutions

Several major changes revolutionized sandwich making in America. The first was the removal of the germ in the bread. Rancidity in bread was caused mainly by lipids in the wheat germ. Without the germ, bread stayed fresh-tasting longer. The second was the use of chemical leavening agents, which greatly reduced the time necessary to make bread, as well as the introduction of chemical preservatives that prevented commercial bread from turning stale quickly. The invention of the continuous conveyor oven also made possible the production of bread at a faster pace. Finally, Gustav Papendick invented a process for slicing and wrapping bread in the late 1920s. That each of these changes reduced the taste and nutritional quality of bread was less important than the mass production and national distribution of low-cost bread, rolls, and buns the changes facilitated.