Margaret Minnicks has been an online writer for many years. She writes articles that are interesting to her readers.

Many of you have probably seen those twist ties on the bags of bread. The thin strip of plastic is used to tie the openings of bags for slice bread, hamburger rolls, and hot dog rolls as seen in the above photo. The strip also serves another purpose.

The twist ties come in different colors for a reason. However, some people don't pay attention to them, and surely, they don't know what the five colors mean. They think they are on the bag just to keep it closed.

Some people think the ties are a nuisance and they discard them as soon as some slices have been removed so they can tie the bag with itself without using the twist ties.

Learn what the colors of the twist ties mean, and you will never just pick up the first loaf of bread you see. Pay attention to the order of the twist ties below. They are arranged in that particular order for a reason.

Twist Ties

Twist ties come in five different colors. Do you know why only five? Do you do how to remember them for each day of the week?

There are five colors for the five delivery days for bread. Usually, there is no bread delivery on Wednesday and Sunday.

Starting with Monday, the colors are in alphabetical order. Remember to skip Wednesday and Sunday. See the twist ties in the photos above and below.

The plastic twist ties or plastic ties indicate when the bread was baked and delivered. Bread is usually delivered to grocery stores the same day it is baked.

The codes are as follows:

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

Most sources refer to a five-day delivery schedule which does not include Wednesday and Sunday. If you want to buy bread on Wednesday, choose Tuesday's color. If you want to buy bread on Saturday, choose Saturday's color. The bread will still be fresh.

The color coding is to make it easier for employees to remove stale loaves from the shelves and replace them with fresh ones. Employees know the colors go in alphabetical order.

Blue Twist Tie on Monday

If you shop for bread on Monday, make sure you choose the one with the blue twist tie or the blue metal tie. It is important for you to start off with the blue one because the colors are in alphabetical order. If you get Monday's color wrong, you might not know what the colors of the other ties. See that the photo at the beginning of this article has a blue twist tie.

A tip to remember blue is for Monday, think of Fats Domino's old song "Blue Monday."

Green Twist Tie on Tuesday

Red Twist Tie on Thursday

White Twist Tie on Friday

Yellow Twist Tie on Saturday

An Educational Exercise for Young Children

A lot of parents take their young children with them when they go shopping. If you have young children, let them know about this information about color twist ties or plastic tie. Then send them to the bread aisle to choose the bread for that particular day.

Another Use For Twist Ties

Some garbage bags are sold with twist ties. However, they are all one color instead of being color-coded.

Which Color?

For each question, choose the best answer. The answer key is below.

1. Which color twist tie is used for Monday?
   • Red
   • Blue
   • Green
   • Yellow
   • White
   • None
2. Which color twist tie is used for Tuesday?
   • White
   • Yellow
   • Green
   • Blue
   • Red
   • None
3. Which color twist tie is used for Wednesday?
   • Green
   • Blue
   • White
   • Yellow
   • Red
   • None
4. Which color twist tie is used for Thursday?
   • Blue
   • Red
   • Green
   • White
   • Yellow
   • None
5. Which color twist tie is used for Friday?
   • Blue
   • Green
   • Red
   • White
   • Yellow
   • None
6. Which color twist tie is used for Saturday?
   • Yellow
   • White
   • Green
   • Red
   • Blue
   • None
7. Which color twist tie is used for Sunday?
   • Yellow
   • White
   • Green
   • Red
   • Blue
   • None

Answer Key

1. Blue
2. Green
3. None
4. Red
5. White
6. Yellow
7. None

Comments

Gary Jones on December 12, 2018:

Curious as to who sets the direction on twist ties. Numerous products have them either twisted left or right and it is often hard to figure out which way they are twisted.

Margaret Minnicks (author) from Richmond, VA on January 18, 2018:

Yes, Louise, the different colors mean the day the bread was baked and delivered. Hopefully, you read that you can remember the days because colors are in alphabetical order. How cool is that?

Louise Powles from Norfolk, England on January 18, 2018:

I had no idea about the different coloured twists. You learn something new every day, hey? Very informative, thanks. I'll remember that next time I go in the bakers.