EuropeMain article: Bread in Europe

Europe
Main article: Bread in Europe
French bread
Arabian pita bread

An enormous variety of bread is available across Europe. Germany lays claim to over 1300 basic varieties of breads, rolls, and pastries, as well as having the largest consumption of bread per capita worldwide, followed by Chile. Bread and salt is a welcome greeting ceremony in many central and eastern European cultures. During important occasions when guests arrive, they are offered a loaf of bread with a salt holder to represent hospitality.

In France, there has been a huge decline in the baguette culture. In the 1970s, French people were consuming an average of one loaf of bread per day. Only a century ago, the French ate approximately 3 loaves of bread per day. Today, French people eat only a half a loaf of bread per day. In response to this decline, bakers have created a national campaign to get people to call at the bakery before and after work just as they used to. The campaign models the American "Got Milk?" campaign, plastering "Hey there, have you picked up the bread?" all over billboards and bread bags.

There is a wide variety of traditional breads in Great Britain, often baked in a rectangular tin. Round loaves are also produced, such as the North East England specialty called a stottie cake. A cob is a small round loaf. A cottage loaf is made of two balls of dough, one on top of the other, to form a figure-of-eight shape. There are many variations on bread rolls, such as baps, barms, breadcakes and so on. The Chorleywood process for mass-producing bread was developed in England in the 1960s before spreading worldwide. Mass-produced sliced white bread brands such as Wonderloaf and Mother's Pride have been criticized on grounds of poor nutritional value and taste of the loaves produced.