Mould-free bread 'could cut food waste'

An innovative bread that stays mould-free for 60 days could significantly cut waste, an American company has claimed.

Food waste is a huge problem in most developed countries, and in the UK almost a third of loaves purchased are thrown away when they could have been eaten, according to figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Mould is one of the biggest causes of bread being thrown away. Due to the fact it is delivered in a plastic wrapper, any water in the bread that evaporates from within is trapped. This leads to a moist surface and provides ideal conditions in which mould can grow.

In normal conditions, mould will grow in bread in around just ten days.

However, US company Microzap says that it has developed a technique that will keep the bread mould-free for a whole two months.

This works by zapping the bread in a high-tech microwave, thereby killing problem spores. The device was originally designed to kill harmful bacteria like MRSA and salmonella, but it was discovered that it could kill the mould spores in bread in around ten seconds.

The company chief executive Don Stull explained: "We treated a slice of bread in the device, we then checked the mould that was in that bread over time against a control.

"And at 60 days it had the same mould content as it had when it came out of the oven."

Mr Stull admitted that it is important to get "consumer acceptance" of the product.

"Most people do it by feel and if you still have that quality feel they probably will accept it," he said.

What's more, this device could be used for more than bread, with experts saying that a wide range of foods including fresh turkey, fruit and veg could also benefit from use of the device.