Bread Claims May Be Misleading

ABC News reports that the claims on the front of bread packages may be misleading. Terms such as “whole grain,” “multigrain” and “12 grain” have been given no legal defination by the Food and Drug Administration. That means bread manufacturers can use them even if their products contain more white flour than whole grain.

So if you’re looking for healthier bread, you need to look at the list of ingredients on the back of the package. The ingredioents are listed in order, from most to least. If you want more whole grains in your diet, make sure the first ingredient is a whole grain.

When you see “whole wheat” on the front, that’s the only time you are getting whole grain wheat flour. If the package just says “wheat bread,” it is almost certainly white bread with little or no whole grain flour.

When it says “whole grain,” that doesn’t necessarily mean it is mostly whole grain.

“Multigrain” simply means there is more than one type of grain, but it may be all refined flour.

Check the list for ingredients like “maltodextrin,” “inulin” or chicory root fiber, oat hull fiber, oat fiber, wheat fiber and wheat starch.