Whole Grains Must Be Better Labeled
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced this week that anything labeled as containing whole grains must contain a comparable amount of the fibrous, protein-dense and nutrient-rich portions of grains in the same proportion normally present in the intact grain.
I like the sound of this.
Whole grains include barley, buckwheat, bulgur, corn, millet, rice, rye, oats, sorghum, wheat and wild rice. Foods containing those grains can be promoted as whole grain as long as they are kept from being over-processed and stripped of their health benefits, which is the case for white flour.[snip]
Currently, food products can be labeled as an "excellent source" or "good source" of whole grains. However, the new FDA draft guidance said that these statements should be replaced with factual, measurable information such as "10 grams of whole grains" or "half ounce of whole grains." [source]
While I mainly eat boring cereal, ie Fiber One, now I'm even suspect of it's grainy goodness. I just went to the General Mills Big G Cereals site and you can click each product to check the nutritional value & ingredients.
I see why the FDA is trying to curtail the confusing advertising. If you click on something like Cocoa Puffs, across the front in a big blue box it states "ALL General Mill Cereals are made with WHOLE GRAIN". What's the first ingredient for Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs? Sugar 
It's only in the last year or so I've become a more educated consumer about what's in the food I buy, but even trying to do my part and stay on top of things, is hard. I think the companies should just state the info and stop hiding behind slickly worded marketing slogans based on the current diet fad.
Last year, as white carbs got banned from people's lips and whole grains made a comeback, all of a sudden cereal boxes got an extreme makeover to say, "Hey guys we are whole grainy too".
They really need to stop.
What's your breakfast cereal of choice?
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2 Comments
02.20.06 | Marla commented: The only cereal I eat is Shredded Wheat 'n Bran. It's the ONLY cereal I can find that is not sweetened. My second choice is almost any Kashi - the varieties in my supermarket are sweetened, but at least it's a light dose of cane sugar - no corn syrup! I eat the shreddies dry, with almonds, sort of like a trail mix-type snack. It's about time on the product labeling! FDA and USDA need to get off their butts and serve the public interest better than they do!
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I just found a great new cereal...or it seems so I should probably examine it to be sure. I got it in the really healthy (ie. Trader Joes kinds of food) section of the supermarket. They are called Kashi Organic Promise Cinnamon Harvest and I thought it was great. Anyway I'm learning more and more about fiber and whole wheat.