10 facts about food safety in Vilniaus Duona bakeries

How is a modern bakery similar to a laboratory? More than you might think. Behind every loaf of bread lies a system of strict standards and hundreds of quality and safety checks designed to ensure consumers receive products that are fresh, safe, and consistently high in quality. Some of these procedures even surprise visitors to our bakeries. Viktorija Legaudaitė-Lydekaitienė, Quality Manager at Vilniaus Duona, explains.

1. Only one piece of jewelry allowed

Before entering the production area, employees must remove all jewelry. The only exception is a simple wedding band without stones or other decorative elements. This rule helps reduce the risk of foreign objects ending up in the bread. While a diamond ring hidden in a loaf might sound like a lucky find, bakeries are no place for surprises like that.

2. The pens are special

Only specially designed pens are used in our bakeries. They can be detected by metal detectors, meaning that if a pen accidentally entered the production process, it would be quickly identified. These pens are also made from materials that are less likely to break apart, providing an additional layer of protection for the production process and helping ensure food safety.

3. Crumb structure matters

We regularly conduct sensory evaluations of our bread. We care not only about how it smells, tastes, and looks, but also about its softness, crust colour, packaging convenience, whether butter spreads easily on a slice, whether seeded bread contains enough seeds, and whether the slices are not too porous. In total, we assess more than a dozen different parameters to ensure every loaf meets our quality standards.

4. We measure slice thickness

The right slice thickness is important for convenience, taste, and toasting performance, especially for toast bread. That is why we regularly check our slicing equipment and measure any deviations with millimetre precision. We assess slice thickness, loaf shape, and crust quality.

5. Ultra-clean air

The cleanliness of the toast line in the cutting and packaging areas of the toast line is subject to extremely high requirements. The air here is cleaned up to 99.96 percent, and such a particularly clean environment helps to protect the bread that has already been baked and preserve its freshness for longer.

6. Michelin-equivalent certificate

Vilniaus Duona is the only fresh bread bakery in Lithuania with the highest level BRCGS food safety certificate. In the food industry, this standard is like a Michelin rating for restaurants – it is difficult to obtain and even more difficult to maintain.

7. Guests are amazed by the daily cleanliness

During international visits, guests often ask if the bakeries have undergone a general cleaning before they arrive. The answer is simple – no. Cleanliness and order are part of everyday work here, not preparation for an audit or a visit. 

8. Bake from Lithuanian rye flour

Each batch of raw materials is inspected according to the established requirements and enters production only after making sure that it meets the standards. Both of our bakeries in Lithuania bake from rye grain flour grown in the country and ground here.

9. We bake about 90 tons of bread a day

Every day, about 90 tons of produce leave the bakeries of Vilnius and Panevėžys. Even when working on this scale, each loaf must be of equal quality, properly baked, and reach the stores on time.

10. Hundreds of checks behind every loaf

From receiving raw materials to dispatching the finished product, we carry out numerous quality control procedures. We inspect ingredients, monitor the sourdough and dough, measure dough piece weights and temperatures, and control the cooling process. We also inspect baked products and packaging, conduct laboratory testing, and perform sensory evaluations.

Consumers never see these steps, but they are what ensure that the bread on your table is tasty, fresh, high-quality, and safe.