Twist Tie On Bread

And it's all contained in the twist ties or plastic clips around the top of the bread bag. (See also: Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, By the Month The Color Code of Freshness I often wondered why they used different colors on those tags and ties. 

Broken Secrets

By Kaye Nemec You may not have noticed before, but if you look closely at the loaves of bread on your grocery store shelves you'll see that they are sealed with twist ties in a variety of colors. The colors vary not only by brand, but also within the same brand of bread.

Ziploc and Other Alternatives The alternative to bread twist ties is Kwik Lok, which many people have seen every day, as well as tape.

Most bread companies use varying colors of twist ties to track the freshness of bread. For example, bread that was baked on Monday may be sealed with a blue tie; Tuesday may be green, Wednesday orange… etc. The color coding makes it much easier for employees to remove stale loaves and replace them with fresh ones. It is faster to look at the color of the twist tie than it is to read the date code on each bag.

Or as we say in the culinary world, FIFO, meaning “first in, first out.” At most, you should see only two colors of twist ties in the bread aisle on any given day. 

Monday: Blue twisty

Tuesday: Green twisty

Wednesday: (No bread delivered)

Thursday: Red twisty

Friday: White twisty

Saturday: Yellow twisty

Sunday: (No bread delivered)

Without positively knowing which colors represent which days, you'll have no way of knowing which loaf to pick. You'll have to pay attention to the color system used by your bread maker. Try calling the customer service number and asking them what their color coding system is. Chances are good they'll share this info.

I looked in the grocery store and the bread wrappers do have different colored twist ties, and even the ones with the plastic clips have different colors.

With each delivery old loaves should be replaced with fresh, new loaves. Because of the frequent deliveries, odds are that you wouldn't see more than two to three colors for any one brand on the shelf at one time. If you do happen upon a plethora of colors you'll know the inside scoop and may want to steer clear of that brand unless you know their specific codes.

Usually, there are five different colors, indicating the five-day delivery schedule (which skips Wednesdays and Sundays, supposedly because bread is not baked on those days).