I was in the grocery biz for 33 years . In the 1940s - 1990s a market's cheapest line of bread was called " balloon bread " in the baking industry . It was a small ball of dough pumped up with air. This gave the illusion of a big loaf for a small price , caramel coloring was added along with the label " wheat " bread, which meant nothing in reality . When I started in 1969 the ball of dough cost the company 4 cents , the loaf sold for 29 cents .... Looking at the ingredients today I see some cheap bread makers are using "palm oil " , a super saturated , but legally termed " vegetable " oil . It's the cheapest oil they can buy , and in the U.S. they get away with not having to designate whether it is palm " fruit " oil or the more artery destroying palm " kernel " oil . 90% of the time you are getting the cheaper " kernel " oil . Even worse, they have developed a chemical powder called " XPANDO " to keep the air bubbles trapped inside the loaf . This powder, combined with chemical spoilage retardants equates to a very long shelf life . The bread can be a month old yet feel like it was just out of the oven .... Not to be confused with " X - PANDO " . I'm glad I bought a bread machine many years ago !