Sprouted Grains
Wholegrain products can be identified by the ingredients list. Typically, if the ingredient lists "wholewheat," "wholemeal," or "whole corn" as the first ingredient, the product is a wholegrain food item. On the other hand, terms such as "enriched" and "bromated," among others, could indicate that the food lacks wholegrain. Wholegrains are healthier than their enriched counterparts.
"Wheat flour" (as opposed to "wholegrain wheat flour" or "wholewheat flour") as the first ingredient is not a clear indicator of the product’s wholegrain content. If two ingredients are listed as grain products but only the second is listed as wholegrain, the entire product may contain between 1% and 49% whole grain. Many breads are colored brown (often with molasses) and made to look like wholegrain, but are not. In addition, some food manufacturers make foods with whole-grain ingredients, but, because whole-grain ingredients are not the dominant ingredient, they are not wholegrain products. Contrary to popular belief, fiber is not indicative of wholegrains. The amount of fiber varies from grain to grain, and some products may have things like bran, peas, or other foods added to boost the fiber content.
In Canada, it is legal to advertise any food product as "wholewheat" with up to 70% of the germ removed. While the resulting product will contain the benefit of fiber in the nutritional information, it lacks the more recently-discovered health benefits of antioxidants found in the wheat germ. Canadian consumers can be assured of wholegrain products by a label stating 100% whole grain wholewheat.
Wholegrains are often more expensive than refined grains because their higher oil content is susceptible to rancidification, complicating processing, storage, and transport.
Similar to the distinction between whole and refined grains is that between whole pulses (peas, beans, and other related vegetables) and refined dal (a preparation of pulses or the thick stew prepared from these).
From AACC (American Association of Cereal Chemists) definition: "Wholegrains shall consist of the intact, ground, cracked or flaked caryopsis, whose principal anatomical components - the starchy endosperm, germ and bran - are present in the same relative proportions as they exist in the intact caryopsis."
The following names indicate whole-grain products, in accordance with the federal government:
- "Whole wheat bread"
- "Whole wheat millet"
- "Whole wheat buns"
- "Whole wheat macaroni"
- "Whole wheat spaghetti"
- "Whole wheat vermicelli"
- "Cracked wheat" (as an ingredient, not part of a name, as in "cracked wheat bread")
- "Crushed wheat"
- "Whole wheat flour"
- "Graham flour" (as an ingredient, not as part of a name as in "graham crackers")
- "Entire wheat flour"
- "Bromated whole wheat flour"
- "Whole durum flour"
- "Bulgur (cracked wheat)" (note that "bulgur" by itself may or may not indicate whole grain
