What is real food? Bread offers a useful place to start: read the ingredients, understand their roles, and learn how they become something you can make and share.
A simple sourdough formula
A naturally leavened loaf can be made with flour, water, salt and ripe sourdough starter. The starter is a living flour-and-water culture, so fermentation is part of the process. This is one bread formula, not a rule that every loaf must contain exactly four listed ingredients.
What can a packaged-loaf label tell you?
Some packaged loaves include other recipe ingredients, preservatives and emulsifiers. A Singapore packaged-bread listing, for example, includes flour, sugar, oil, milk, salt, yeast, emulsifiers, yeast nutrients, vitamins and minerals, and calcium propionate. Formulations differ: read the current full label rather than assuming all factory-made or packaged bread is the same.
A long name does not establish that an ingredient is harmful. Singapore’s permitted food additives are assessed for safety and subject to conditions of use. Equally, a short list alone does not prove that a bread is more nutritious.
Salt, sugar and premixes can have recipe roles
Making real food does not mean avoiding every process or never adding salt or sugar. Flour is milled; starter is fermented; dough is mixed and baked. Salt and sugar are culinary ingredients that may serve a recipe’s flavour, structure or fermentation needs. A premix combines ingredients for convenience: judge its full formulation and instructions, rather than its name alone.
This ingredient comparison does not classify a particular KNEVA premix or claim that a specific loaf is healthier. For a product’s contents, allergens and preparation method, use its current label and guide.
Try this the next time you choose bread
- Read the complete ingredient list on the bread you are buying or making.
- Identify the main ingredients and distinguish them from leavening, seasoning and other functional ingredients.
- Compare like-for-like breads. A milk loaf and a lean sourdough are different recipes.
- Consider the nutrition panel, allergens, your needs and how you will use and store the bread—not only the number of ingredients.
- Choose one making skill to learn, such as mixing a simple dough or recognising when your starter is ready.
KNEVA — Make Real Food
For KNEVA, the focus is on the essentials: familiar ingredients, useful tools, clear guidance and the confidence to make food you understand. Cook, bake and ferment in the kitchen you have. Start with the ingredients, learn the process, and bring what you make to the table.
Explore KNEVA Guides, cultures and fermentation, and cookware and useful kitchen tools.
Sources and further reading
- King Arthur Baking: a naturally leavened sourdough formula
- King Arthur Baking: flour-and-water sourdough starter
- A Singapore packaged-loaf ingredient example (listing checked 2 November 2026; recipes can change)
- Singapore Food Agency: food additives and safety assessment