Neither Wonder Bread Nor Sunbeam: Consumer Reports Said This Is The Best Bread You Can Buy

According to Consumer Reports, the best bread on supermarket shelves today is Food for Life's Organic Flourless Sprouted Grains Ezekiel 4:9. The publication's experts tested bread on a number of metrics, including serving size, calories, fiber, and carbohydrates. Ezekiel 4:9 — named after a Bible passage about bread — actually shared the top spot with another Food for Life product, Organic Flourless 7 Sprouted Grains, though the former has slightly more protein and a little less sodium.

Wonder Bread's sole representative in the top 20, 100% whole wheat, ranked a distant 12th place. Sunbeam didn't fare too well in the rankings, placing 54th out of a total of 56 breads; its whole grain white bread scored very low on the publication's metrics.

Still, you might want to stick with Wonder and Sunbeam if you're being conservative with your budget — while those loaves cost roughly $2.50 and $2 respectively, Ezekiel 4:9 is on the pricey end at around $7.49. This makes it the eighth-most expensive bread on the Consumer Reports list, but you do get a lot of value for your money. Ezekiel bread is incredibly healthy, so it's worth having on your grocery list if your budget allows for it. If you can make sweet treats like a PB&J healthier with a simple bread swap, your body will thank you for it in the long run.

The secret behind Food for Life's flourless Ezekiel 4:9 bread is that it's a sprouted bread – a bread made with grains that have been allowed to sprout. According to a 2019 scientific review published in Nutrients, studies found sprouted grains have an increased amount of beneficial bioactive compounds like folate, as well as higher concentrations of antioxidants. The grains also show lower amounts of anti-nutrients like phytate and tannin, which are compounds that inhibit your body's ability to absorb certain nutrients. A separate 2023 study published in the Journal of Cereal Science found bread made with sprouted wheat flour potentially contained 88 identifiable phenolic compounds. This indicates the grains stay nutrient-rich even after baking.

Interestingly enough, Ezekiel 4:9 only came in second behind Dave's Killer Bread Organic 21 Whole Grain Bread in our whole grain bread rankings based on customer reviews. It averages a very respectable 4.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon and Walmart, tied with Dave's Killer Bread, which also averages 4.6 stars on both sites. It's possible customers like both breads equally, but Consumer Reports' experts likely graded the more nutritious bread higher. Ezekiel bread has more protein and fewer added sugars, sodium, and calories, which makes it a bit better than the higher-fiber Dave's, though Dave's serving size is higher.