Is the food you buy in the store even real?
It’s a strange question, but it’s one that’s been haunting the internet for the past few years. TikTok and other social media are filled with accusations that stores and restaurants are selling lab-grown meat or other “natural” items that are, in their eyes, actually manmade.
Most, if not all, of these accusations are false. However, there are still some food oddities that can give shoppers pause. For example, why hasn’t this expired bread molded yet?
What’s Wrong With This Hamburger Bun?
In a video with over 1.5 million views, TikTok user Jesame (@makeupjesame) shows a package of Nature’s Own Life Keto Burger Buns.
“It’s 3:00am, and I just went down a rabbit hole,” the TikToker starts. “This food ain’t real.”
According to Jesame, she purchased the buns to make turkey burgers. Looking at the package, she saw that they “should have maybe expired in, like, December”—yet the buns show no signs of mold. She recorded the video on Jan. 7.
That’s not the only problem with the bread. After running it under water, the bread acts like a sponge. Jesame is able to fill the bread with water, wring it out, and then return it to its original shape.
“That’s not food,” she states. “I’m traumatized and I don’t know what I’m gonna do.”
In the overlay text, she writes, “We are not consuming what we think we are.”
What’s Going On Here?
While Jesame may be startled by the bread’s behavior, this is actually fairly normal. The reason? It’s keto bread.
For context, the keto diet is one that emphasizes protein and fat over carbs. The idea behind the keto diet is that, by eating fewer carbs, one will encourage their body to go into “ketosis.” Doing this, one encourages their body to use “ketones” for fuel instead of glucose, which some say can spur weight loss. There are some significant dangers associated with this diet, though this is not atypical for highly restrictive diets.
Given how limiting the keto diet is when it comes to carbs, making products like bread keto-friendly is substantially difficult. For example, many keto diets restrict carb intake to fewer than 50 grams. A single hamburger bun can have around 18 net grams of carbs.
In order to create a burger bun with only 1 net carb with “no artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors,” per the company’s website, Nature’s Own used ingredients like modified wheat starch, wheat protein isolate, guar gum, ascorbic acid, and more. While the final product has 17 grams of carbs, it’s offset by 16 grams of dietary fiber, resulting in a single net carb.
Why Is The Bread Behaving Like This?
Even with this ingredient list noted, some may wonder why the bread is not moldy.
As noted by Cy Bread, there are many reasons why keto bread does not mold as quickly. Most of these reasons boil down to the fact that keto bread simply isn’t an ideal mold-growing environment. Specifically, mold thrives in moisture-rich, high-carb foods. As keto bread is generally dryer and lower in carbs, this makes mold growth less likely.
Add in the fact that the bread is usually denser with fewer spaces for mold to grow, and the notion that it hasn’t molded past its expiration date is not especially surprising.
But why is it acting like a sponge? This, again, is fairly normal for keto bread. In fact, “sponginess” has been a long-time complaint of low-carb bread eaters.
Back in 2012, a YouTuber went viral performing a comparable demonstration with a different brand of low-carb bread. Similar to Jesame, he was able to run the bread under water, wring it out, then reform it into its original shape. He further demonstrated the bread’s sponge-like properties by using it to clean up spills.
Commenters Are Divided
In the comments section, users were split. Some were concerned about what Jesame demonstrated. Others said that, given that the bread was keto, what Jesame showed in the video was to be expected.
“Our food ain’t real i’m convinced,” said a user.
“All jokes aside, this is actually so alarming,” added another.
“I hear you but this is keto bread … they don’t use the same ingredients because it’s low carb bread they don’t use flour so it makes the bread this way,” countered a third.
In response to this discussion, Jesame posted a follow-up video. While she said she learned a significant amount from the comments, she says she will refrain from purchasing the bread in the future and will take more care to read ingredient lists before buying goods.
“I personally don’t want to ingest it, so I won’t be purchasing it,” she explains. “If you see value in it, even though it turned into a sponge, that is all right.”
BroBible reached out to Jesame via TikTok direct message and comment and Flowers Foods via website contact form.