The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend at least half the grain products we eat be whole grain. If you are trying to move away from refined grain foods and increase intake of whole grains, you will need to look at ingredient lists, not rely on front-of-package claims, according to a study led by Tufts University researcher Parke Wilde, PhD.
In the study, published recently in Public Health Nutrition, Wilde and his colleagues asked participants to determine which of two products was a better whole grain choice. The packaging on one product said, “made with whole grains,” “multigrain,” or “wheat,” and the packaging on the other made no such claims. Although the ingredient list indicated that the unadorned product had more whole grain, between 29 and 47 percent of participants chose the less-healthy option.
Products “made with whole grains” could simply have a few whole grains sprinkled on top, “wheat” could mean refined wheat flour, and “multigrain” does not necessarily mean whole grain—the product could contain multiple refined grains.
When choosing whole grain products, check the ingredient list for words like “whole grain” or “whole wheat.” These words should be at the top of the list, coming before (or, better yet, appearing instead of) words like “enriched flour” and “wheat flour,” which do not describe whole grains.