7 Best White Bread Brands With The Highest-Quality Ingredients

If you grew up with Wonder bread sandwiches packed daily into your lunchbox, you might have a nostalgic affinity for white bread — ditto if you are a fan of classic BBQ. It's a staple for many families, thanks to its mellow, easy-to-enjoy taste and soft texture, as well as its long shelf life. To achieve these convenient characteristics, though, white bread goes through much more processing than other types of bread, like whole-grain. That means the health benefits of white bread are generally lower, and when you're buying it packaged from grocery store shelves, you may be inadvertently purchasing white bread that's more harmful than healthful.

There are a slew of ingredients common in commercial bread that are potentially problematic, several of which are banned in countries outside of the United States. If you're looking to avoid these possible health hazards, thankfully, there are certain brands you can commonly find at grocery stores that have a less sketchy ingredients list. While commercial white bread will never be as healthy as its 100% whole-grain counterparts, seeking out these brands means you can still enjoy this simple staple without worry. 

The story behind Dave's Killer Bread is fascinating, to say the least. After a 15-year incarceration for various crimes (despite the "killer" in the name, murder was not one of them), Dave Dahl returned to his family's baking business and helped it take off in a big way. By 2014, the company's reach had expanded across the United States and into Canada, and the next year it was sold to Flower Foods, which led to more major growth. Although the company is no longer run by Dave and his family, it still maintains a commitment to its core values: A focus on second-chance employment and organic, healthy ingredients.

Unlike most store-bought white breads, Dave's is made with multiple unbleached flours, including wheat, barley, rye, spelt, and more, and includes some whole grains. Everything is organic, and you won't find any unrecognizable ingredients on its label. This bread's sodium level, 170 mg per slice, is on the low end among the other loaves on this list. You can find this loaf all over, including at Costco, where it's one of the breads we recommend stocking up on if you're a member.

Whole Foods shoppers can rest easy when it comes to harmful ingredients in baked goods. The store holds both its in-house bakery and its outside suppliers to incredibly high standards, even going as far as banning hundreds of problematic additives from the food it makes and sells. Thanks to that policy, you won't find any oddball science fiction-sounding ingredients in its breads, including the store brand's 365 organic artisan white bread.

While you won't find whole grains in here, you will find organic, unbleached, and unbromated wheat flour as the loaf's base. Partially hydrogenated oils, artificial colors, and non-naturally occurring preservatives all fall under the umbrella of the store's ingredients ban, so no worries there. At first glance, you may raise an eyebrow at the sodium level — at 310 mg a serving, it's significantly higher than the rest — but take a closer look and you'll see that's for a two-slice serving, whereas all of the other brands list their stats for a single slice. 

The only shady issue you need to know about here is the inclusion of sesame seed flour, a common practice among major bakeries to skirt around a relatively recent U.S. law that made sesame a top allergen. For a food to be labeled sesame-free, companies now have to remove all traces of it from their facilities, and many are finding it easier, and cheaper, to simply include sesame instead. Those with an allergy should steer clear.

Rudi's, an organic bakery that's been crafting bread in Colorado for 50 years, has always been focused on healthy products. The brand is well-known for its dedicated line of gluten-free options, but these days it makes just about any bread-related product you can imagine, including English muffins, pre-made sandwiches, buns, and tortillas. If you're just looking for a simple white loaf, Rudi's has you covered there, too. The bakery's country morning white loaf is made from all non-GMO organic ingredients, each of which is recognizable to a non-scientist.

With 170 mg of sodium per slice, this loaf joins Whole Foods 365 and Dave's Killer Bread at the lower end of the salt spectrum. In addition to organic wheat and whole wheat flour, Rudi's white loaf also contains potato flour, which adds fluffy softness to bread's texture. Like most white breads, this country morning loaf isn't a nutritional powerhouse, but at least you know you're getting organic and natural ingredients, and not industrial chemicals.

Naked Bread is a line of breads produced by Franz Bakery that's focused on one main thing: Transparency. When you look at any of the Naked organic breads on the company's website, not only do you see the entire nutritional label immediately, but you can also click on each and every ingredient to find out more about it — what it is and why it's included. There's even information on farmers and suppliers, and the option to reach out to a baker if you have more questions. That commitment to honesty shows that Naked is more than just a cheeky name.

Naked's bare white bread is, like all of its offerings, made from organic ingredients from top to bottom. Each slice contains 180 mg of sodium, so just a touch higher than the previous loaves on this list, but still comparable. One thing to be aware of with this loaf is that, unlike most of the other breads in this selection, it does contain dairy in the form of salted butter, so if you're vegan or lactose-intolerant, this isn't an option for you. Other than that, there's not a single ingredient that should raise any red flags — and if you can tolerate it, salted butter does make bread (and everything else) taste delicious.

Branded as Sara Lee in some markets and Alfaro's in others, this Artesano loaf is the same product regardless of whose name graces the packaging. While it's not organic like many of the other breads listed here, it still has a decently respectable group of ingredients, without any of the potentially problematic additives that should be avoided.

There are some folks who will want to avoid Artesano bread, however. For one, soy lecithin is used in this product. Lecithin is a naturally occurring element in many foods, and here it's extracted from soybeans and added as an emulsifier as well as a preservative. While it's not considered inherently harmful, and it's included in very small amounts, those with soy allergies should be aware of its presence. Hazelnuts, milk, and sesame are also listed as potential allergens due to other products made at the same facilities. One other thing to note is that the sodium level here jumps somewhat, up to 200 mg per slice. If you're watching your sodium intake, you may want to find a different white bread. Otherwise, this is a fine option.

This country-style white bread is known by various brand names in multiple markets: Oroweat, Arnold, or Brownberry, depending on where you are located in the world. There are slight variations in the nutritional stats depending on the specific brand, but none of them contain any major suspicious ingredients, though all three do contain soy lecithin, and additionally, Oroweat and Brownberry list soy itself as a separate ingredient. Those two also include whey, while Arnold does not, but Arnold's loaf still lists milk as an allergen, from other things made in the same facility. Oroweat and Brownberry list sesame as well, while Arnold does not.

The ingredients for these loaves are not organic, which is something to keep in mind. Another potential issue is sodium. While the brands are at a slightly different level, they're all relatively high — 220 mg for Oroweat, and a whopping 250 mg for Arnold and Brownberry, per slice. While the ingredients and nutrition of these loaves shouldn't be a problem for most folks, people with allergies and sensitivities will want to proceed with caution.

Nature's Own perfectly crafted white bread isn't necessarily perfect, despite what its name implies, but it is a decent option for white bread fans. It's made from a blend of unbleached and enriched wheat, malted barley, and semolina flours. This bread boasts non-GMO ingredients, though they're not organic, as well as a complete lack of artificial additives such as color or preservatives. Like Dave's Killer Bread, this brand falls under the Flowers Foods umbrella.

There are a few caveats to this Nature's Own white bread that should be taken into account before you decide to grab a loaf. It does contain soy lecithin, which could be an issue for those with allergies, and it also carries a sesame allergen warning from its shared facility, although sesame is not listed as an ingredient. Each slice contains 230 mg of sodium, which is on the high end of all these breads. Still, among grocery store white bread loaves, this is one of the better options out there.

This list was put together by analyzing the ingredient lists of commonly available white bread brands. We looked for breads that were organic and non-GMO, though not all fit those criteria. We also checked sodium levels, to make sure those were in a reasonable range. All of the breads here contained about the same amounts of sugar, fiber, and protein. After consulting multiple sources, we put together a list of potentially harmful ingredients found in commercial bread, and cross-referenced that list with the ingredients of each loaf, omitting any that contained these problematic additives: Non-naturally occurring preservatives, as well as potentially harmful dough conditioners, emulsifiers, and other artificial ingredients.

Specifically, we looked for breads that did not include any of the following: Potassium bromate, a carcinogen in lab rats; azodicarbonamide, a foaming agent used in yoga mats and pesticides; high fructose corn syrup; DATEM, a synthetic emulsifier that has shown adverse health reactions in lab studies; and artificial colors or flavors. Keep in mind, this list is not based on flavor — click here to find out which white breads topped our taste ranking.