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Whole grain and health: new evidence • NutrInsight
Traditionally in Europe and elsewhere, most refined cereal products have been based on endosperm i.e. kernels or flour after removal of the bran and germ; ironically the two parts containing most of the dietary fibre and other bio-active components (micronutrients, phytochemicals). Levels of these substances in whole wheat flour are 2.5 to more than 5 times higher than those in refined white flour.
Whole grain definition
In the past decade, consumers have (re-)discovered the value of whole grain based products, and food producers have substantially increased their efforts to develop and introduce such products. As a result, consumption of whole grain products is growing, both in countries with an established whole grain tradition such as in Denmark, and in countries, such as the UK, where whole grain was hardly known. Figure 2 shows how the launches of new whole grain “products” have grown exponentially during the decade.
Figure 2: Global new food & drink launches with “whole grain” claim by product category (from 2000 to 2010)
Source: Adapted from data of the Whole Grains Council
In most countries there are no definitions of whole grain, while in a number of countries short definitions of whole grain have existed for a while. These tend to be along the lines of: “Whole grain products include the entire germ, endosperm and bran. Grains that have been subjected to processing such as milling are also included.”
Recently more comprehensive definitions have been developed in the USA, Canada, UK, and Denmark. These definitions included items such as a positive list of the grains included and specifications of allowed processes.
In this context, the European HEALTHGRAIN consortium (Appendix 1) felt the need to develop a harmonized and comprehensive definition of whole grain in Europe which should be:
- MorecomprehensivethancurrentdefinitionsinmostEUcountries,
- SimilarorequaltodefinitionsoutsideEurope,ifpossible,
- Reflectcurrentindustrialpracticesforproducingwholegrainproducts, - Usefulinthecontextofnutritionalguidelinesandnutritionclaims.
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