The Canadian Light Source x-ray beams were used recently to research how to make a healthier bread.

Dr. Filiz Koksel with the University of Manitoba, explains that the project began because of voluntary recommendations from Health Canada to reduce sodium in processed foods like bakery and bread products.

The challenge is making sure it still tastes good while eliminating the stickiness of the dough in the processing line when it has lower sodium content.

If the dough sticks everywhere it can’t easily be processed in bulk.

The research team looked at how different ingredients like wheat cultivars, salt and water interact with the mixing time and affect the bubble structure.

Koksel says they found that when salt is reduced, all the variables tested, including mixing time, required some tweaking to make a consumer-friendly bread.

Some of the wheat cultivars worked better than others.

Koksel says there are still many unanswered questions in the quest to reduce sodium in processed food and the research is ongoing.