What Does The Color Of The Twist Tie On Bread Mean?

Behind every great sandwich is a fresh loaf of bread. Though you can search a bread bag for the expiration-date fine print, there's another small detail that will quickly and easily tell you how fresh its contents are: the twist tie. That's right, the plastic tags or metal ties that are piling up next to your paper clip collection tell you which day of the week bread was baked on. 

So, the next time you're shopping at your local grocery store, pay attention to the color at the end of your bread bag. By selecting bread with the right color tag or twist tie, you might just see a marked improvement in the quality of your sandwiches. Fortunately understanding and remembering the different color codes is simple.

The reason behind the twist tie color coding is to make it easier for employees to remove stale loaves from the shelves and replace them with fresh ones. The codes are as follows: 

• Monday – blue
• Tuesday – green
• Thursday – red
• Friday – white
• Saturday – yellow

No, we didn't forget about Wednesday and Sunday. Most sources refer to a five-day delivery schedule.

Need an easy way to remember this schedule? The colors go in alphabetical order, making it one less thing to forget as you cruise the aisles.

Keep in mind that some companies might have their own system, so check the expiration date when in doubt.