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Old 01-26-2005, 03:41 PM   #1  
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Default Whole grains turn golden

This was in today's San Francisco Chronicle.

Quote:
Whole grains turn golden
Giants of the food industry heed call for healthier choices

- Carol Ness, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 26, 2005


General Mills plugs the whole-grain goodness of its sugar-bomb cereals right on the package. Chronicle photo by Lacy Atkins

Wonder bread's new whole-grain line says it all: Whole grains are going mainstream, even far outside crunchy granola regions like the Bay Area.

Between unprecedented consumer interest in healthier foods, new U.S. dietary guidelines recommending three servings of whole grains a day and manufacturers of bread, pasta and rice eager to recoup their low-carb losses, the number of whole-grain foods in stores is rising like fast-acting yeast dough.

"It's taken 25 years for people to catch on," joked Kass Schwin, owner of Vital Vittles. The Berkeley bakery has been turning out whole-grain loaves since 1979, but sales have shot up dramatically in the past two years.

The entire food industry is watching. Some national players such as Starbucks, Subway and Quiznos are waiting for proof that the trend is for real and not a flash in the pan like low carbs.

But others have plunged right in, even before the new guidelines came out this month. While the food industry doesn't track the sales of whole-grain products separately, signs of the surge are all around. Supermarket bread and cereal aisles suddenly look like Valentine's displays, plastered with red- heart labels signifying healthy whole grains.

General Mills is putting at least some whole grains in all its cereals, including such sugar bombs as Lucky Charms and Trix. By the company's estimate, the move will add 1.5 billion servings of whole grains a year to the American diet. Kellogg's has followed suit with its new Tiger Power cereal for kids.

New breads using some or all whole grains include Interstate Bakeries' Baker's Inn line of Wonder bread, while Sara Lee has added more products to its Heart-Healthy loaves. A recent Chronicle supermarket excursion counted 24 kinds of 100 percent whole-wheat breads -- and that doesn't include multigrain, oat and other whole-grain varieties.

In the rice aisle, Uncle Ben's microwaveable brown rice in a pouch is going up against Lundberg's brown and wild rices. And more obscure grains such as amaranth, quinoa, kamut, teff, spelt and milo (sorghum) are popping up on shelves and in bulk bins.

While whole-grains have always been more popular in Northern California than in many other areas of the country, sales are up here as well.

At Vital Vittles, sales have risen by double-digit numbers every month for the last 24, compared with the same month the year before, according to owner Schwin. She credits the low-carb diets such as South Beach that tell people to eat whole grains if they have to eat carbohydrates. "People have gotten more educated about carbs," Schwin said.

New bakeries such as Esther's in Mountain View are taking off with German- style breads loaded with grains and seeds.

And locally (but not nationally), Starbucks just introduced a new oat bran bagel because parents wanted a healthier breakfast for their kids. It was an instant sellout.

Doctors and nutritionists have always preached whole grains, backed by strong medical evidence that their fiber, antioxidants and micronutrients prevent heart disease, diabetes, some digestive system cancers and obesity. When grains are refined, as in white bread, for example, they are stripped of vital parts -- the bran and the germ -- and lose most of their health benefits.

But most consumers steered clear of their stronger flavors and chewier textures, preferring refined grains for their lightness, mild taste and quicker cooking.

Now, a convergence of three powerful consumer trends -- the fading low- carb fad, rising concern about obesity and diabetes, and diet changes by Baby Boomers trying to fend off aging -- is generating a wave of interest in "good carbs," or whole grains.

Sara Lee spokesman Matt Hall says company research showed that two years ago, mainstream grocery shoppers were turned off by labels emphasizing whole grains or health, but now they're a turn-on. The company responded by introducing its Heart-Healthy and Heart-Healthy Plus lines.

"In just two years, that's a huge turnaround," Hall said.

Through the 1990s, Americans consumed less than one serving of whole grains a day -- most of it cereal, popcorn and corn chips, according to the U.S. dietary guidelines report. Now, the government wants people to eat three 1-ounce servings a day, advice that, if followed, would mean a sea change in Americans' eating habits.

Beyond coarse, dense textures and strong flavors from the bran and germ in whole-grain flours, people still associate whole grains with the bland brown-rice casseroles of the past. Whole grains can also be hard to identify in the market ("wheat" usually means brown-colored white bread, for instance); they can take longer to cook, and many cooks are at a loss as to how to use them.

But some of those barriers are starting to fall because of technological advances, aggressive marketing and the efforts of some chefs.

For example, ConAgra recently introduced Ultragrain, an extremely fine whole-wheat flour that performs more like white flour. It's made from white wheat, which has a lighter taste and texture than the more common red wheat.

To help consumers identify whole-grain products, the Whole Grains Council, a trade group, will issue a "whole-grain stamp" later this year -- a symbol to appear on labels of foods that are good sources of whole grains.

Chefs working with the council are putting grains on their menus to convince diners that they're good eating.

"We have to take it from the healthy, good-for-you mode to chic, delicious, haute cuisine," said Peninsula chef Jesse Cool, who is working with the grain council. The council is a part of Oldways, which promotes traditional foods.

Cool believes that chefs have a big role to play in warming the American palate up to grains as they did with olive oil, seasonal foods and sustainable seafood.

At her jZ Cool Eatery in Menlo Park, she routinely serves a barley or milo salad, made with feta, cucumbers, olive oil, lemon and oregano, and coaxes customers to try it by touting its flavor, not its nutrition.

At her Flea St. Cafe, also in Menlo Park, she serves a wheat berry pilaf with roast chicken, or she'll put barley with braised pork ribs instead of the usual potatoes or white rice.

"We have to find ways to get people to taste them," Cool said. "You have to seduce them, persuade them, not hit them on the head."

Chefs and bakers also are figuring out that the trick is to slip whole grains in where they work instead of making them an all-or-nothing proposition.

At Esther's German Bakery in Mountain View, Esther and Robert Nios bake the grain- and seed-packed pumpernickel and rye loaves of their native country. In less than a year, they've found an avid customer base at farmers' markets and specialty stores, including Draeger's supermarkets on the Peninsula. "People say it's really good for us, and I want something healthy," said Esther Nio.

But when it comes to Esther's butterkuchen, streusel and other pastries, the Nios use little or no whole-wheat flour. It would make them coarse, and "people wouldn't go for that", said Robert Nio. "It's just too healthy."

By the same token, some Starbucks in Northern California have long offered 10-grain muffins. Now, some are carrying a coffee cake with almond meal added for a nutrition bump, and the huge coffee chain's regional branch is cautiously introducing more whole-grain products -- such as the oat-bran bagel -- because customers are asking for healthier treats.

"There's a push to get less sweet and more whole grain," said Angela McManus, regional food director -- more so in the Bay Area than in rural Northern California. So she's working with Full Bloom, the San Mateo bakery that is Starbucks' regional supplier, to incorporate more whole grains into some of their pastries -- but maybe 25 percent, not 100 percent.

"Most people say they want it to be better for them, but they don't want to miss out entirely," McManus said.

If people turn to whole grains in a big way, nutritionists think whole- grain flours may need to be enriched with folic acid; currently, refined flours are enriched with iron and B vitamins, including folic acid.

Whether today's burst of interest will flame out or burn steadily hotter remains an open question.

"People say they want things, and then they don't really want them," said Chris Martone, executive chef for Subway, the sandwich chain based in Connecticut.

Subway has developed new whole-grain breads and put them up against their refined flour breads in consumer taste tests. The refined-flour breads always win -- though in surveys, people say they're looking for whole grains. So, Martone said, Subway has no plans to introduce a whole-grain bread until consumers prove they'll buy it.

Mark Furstenberg, chef-owner of the Bread Line bakery-cafe in Washington, D.C., has been hired by the Legal Seafoods to develop whole-grain breads for the East Coast chain. And he thinks restaurateurs have a responsibility to make their foods healthier.

He's pessimistic, though: "The truth is, Americans don't like whole grains."

Beyond flavor and texture issues, Furstenberg said, whole-grain breads generally don't go with popular cooking styles such as French and Italian. He's pessimistic that people will turn to whole grains in a big way.

"We have failed in this country to change people's appetites for anything, " Furstenberg said. "No matter what we say about sugar, people eat more of it. People have established appetites. Eating is very personal."





URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...NG12B0HHH1.DTL
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Old 01-26-2005, 05:35 PM   #2  
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QUOTE "Furstenberg said, whole-grain breads generally don't go with popular cooking styles such as French and Italian."

Gee, if that's the case then I wonder what all that brown bread was that I kept seeing in Italy earlier this month.

Good article. Too bad so many of those interviewed seemed pessimistic that the "whole grain trend" isn't here to stay, or that people don't know what they want.
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Old 01-26-2005, 08:39 PM   #3  
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Thanks, MrsJim,

I like the Going with the Grain diagram -- it really spells the whole thing out nicely.

Makes you never want to eat plain ol' white bread again -- just starch and no nutrients or fiber! Even if the middle soft part does roll up into those nice mushy balls I'm staying away from white bread!

Thanks, Pookie
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Old 01-26-2005, 09:52 PM   #4  
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Pookie - whenever we babysit at my sister's house, Jim *must* have his PB&B - Skippy peanut butter on WONDER BREAD (yes the squishy white stuff!). He doesn't get it at home...but at my sister's, watch out!

I must say that I LOVE the San Francisco Chronicle - anytime I'm out of town I get homesick for it (they have their website at www.sfgate.com but there's nothing quite like having the actual PAPER spread out in front of you).

ABA - I noticed that the pessimistic folks were not in the Bay Area (San Francisco area) but in Washington DC and Conneticut (Subway HQ). Here in the Bay Area, whole grain breads and products have been popular for some time - another bakery not mentioned in the article is the Bay Area's Alvarado Street Bakery which is reknowned for its whole grain organic breads.



Also, Flea St. Cafe, located on Alameda de las Pulgas (translation: "Avenue of the Fleas") in Menlo Park, is a GREAT restaurant - located near Stanford University. Well worth checking out if you're in the area.

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Old 01-27-2005, 02:22 PM   #5  
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MrsJim,

I remember when I was in San Fran (quite a few years ago) everyone was so FRIENDLY! And I did notice that so many people seemed to be so "health aware" there. So many folks were eating healthy and exercising.

Back to White Bread: When I was little my cousins from NJ would come to our house in NY and look at our buffet table and smile and say gleefully "They have WHITE bread here -- we NEVER get that at home!" They would immediately start chowing down on white bread sandwiches and wind up with a sort of "stoned" look on their faces

Now I realize their family had the RIGHT idea, banning the white bread!

--Pookie
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