Making Heads Or Tails Of Bread Labels

I received an excellent question from a reader today, in regards to an article published earlier this year on the advantages of whitewheat bread.  Cate writes:

Do you have a suggestion as to brand of whitewheat bread? I tried the White Bread Fans but they don’t seem to be making it anymore and all the other breads (like Sarah Lee) are more white than wheat. I’d like to find a regular source for this as a healthy bread for me and the kids.

The question prompted me to dig deeper into the subject.  We use the Nature’s Own Whitewheat in our house.  What I’ve re-learned is that consumers need to be very careful when trying to make healthy choices.  There are very few guarantees when it comes to labeling.

Understanding Bread Labels

In 2008, The Center for Science in the Public Interest reached an agreement with Sara Lee after threatening a lawsuit for deceptive practices over their bread labels.  At the time, the packaging for their “Soft & Smooth Made With Whole Grain White Bread” suggested the product was made with 100% whole grains.  The product is made with 30% whole grain white, with the balance coming from regular refined white bread.  They’ve since changed the labels to indicate that two slices contain 10-grams of whole grains.

The FDA suggests people Americans consume at least 6-ounces of grains daily, with half of that coming from whole grains.  That translates into about 85-grams of whole grains.  Getting in a complete 85-grams of whole grains can be hard enough for adults, but convincing your kids to eat whole grains raises the bar to a whole new level.  Most experts believe the white wheat bread products currently on the market are transitional products, as white wheat growers increase production to keep up with demand.

Having said that, these are some of the bread labels you may encounter on products, along with their meanings:

• 100% Whole Grain (or 100% Whole Wheat) – Contains zero refined white flour.  This is the gold standard.
• Whole Grain – Probably contains little or no refined white flour.  Check the label.
• All of the following claims couldindicate little to no whole grains were used in the product:
  • Whole Grain White
  • 12 Grain (or Multigrain)
  • Made with Whole Grain
  • Good Source of Whole Grain

If all else fails, read the ingredient list.  If the first (or even second) ingredient is “whole grain” then you’re probably making a good choice.  If it says “stone ground” or even worse, “enriched wheat flour,” then there are no guarantees.

Unfortunately, what that means is that I couldn’t find any readily available white wheat bread that make the grade for being 100% whole grain.  In a search for more useful bread labels, we can turn to The Whole Grains Council, which has an industry standard bread labeling program.  Products bearing the Whole Grain stamp must deliver at least half a serving of whole grains per portion (8-grams).  They also maintain a database of products bearing the stamp.  A search of this database yielded only a handful of white wheat bread products.  Unfortunately, the one we were using in our household (Nature’s Own Whitewheat) was not listed, although several other of their bread products were included.  What I did find however, was Wonder Bread “Made with Whole Grain White Bread.”  According to the database, it carried 8-grams of whole grains per serving.  The Sara Lee White Wheat carries the label, but you need to know that a serving is considered two slices, not one.  The Wonder Bread product is carried locally, so we will be switching to it at the next grocery trip.

There is another industry bread label, also provided by the Whole Grain Council, which is 100% Whole Grain.  These products must contain at least 16-grams of whole grains per serving.  None of the white wheat breads in their database carried this label.

As we said before, many of the current white wheat bread products are transitional, so the currently available commercial solutions are imperfect.  But they are certainly better for you than traditional white breads.  Do you consider whole grains to be an important part of your diet?  If so, will you be changing your habits to attempt getting more whole grains?  If not, why?

Resources:

• Center for Science in the Public Interest
• FDA – Scoop on Whole Grains
• Whole Grains Council
• Photo Credit