Bakery

Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed (e.g. mantou), fried (e.g. puri), or baked on an unoiled skillet (e.g. tortillas). It may be leavened or unleavened. Salt, fat and leavening agents such as yeast and baking soda are common ingredients; though bread may contain other ingredients, such as milk, egg, sugar, spice, fruit vegetables, nuts or seeds.

The western European bread industry produces 25 million tonnes of bread per annum, of which the industrial or plant sector's share is 8 million tonnes. Germany and the UK are the main operators with 60% of plant sector production – France, the Netherlands and Spain produce another 20 % between them.
Despite the dominance of industrial bakers in some European markets, such as in Britain and Ireland where they represent over 80% of the market, craft bakers continue to represent the bulk of bread production in Europe.
Throughout Western Europe the plant sector is taking market share away from the master bakers. In Germany there are 18, 000 craft bakers but the number is expected to half in the next five years. In the UK and Denmark, plant bakeries currently hold between 75 – 80% of the market.

The main controls put in place in bread bakeries are foreign body controls, mould control and allergen management. Bakeries which handle dairy products such as cream have additional hazards and pathogen control is vital.

Cleaning in a bakeries is carried out where possible dry. It often involves vacuuming, brushing or sweeping of dry materials. Equipment needs to be deep cleaned on a routine basis to control pest infestations such as flour moth. CIP sets are often used to clean the yeast holding tanks and delivery mains.