Whole Wheat Bread

[#1]

When bread was baked in the early eighteen hundreds, the flour used was whole wheat. The reason was simple; the milled flour contained the entire wheat grain, so the flour was laced with the crushed bran coating of the wheat seed. An unknown baker found a way to make the flour whiter, by removing the bran coating. This was the birth of white bread. In those days only the rich could afford white bread because of the extra expense of removing the bran from the wheat. Later it was discovered that the coveted white bread didn’t have much nutrition, so it needed to be enriched to equal the nutrition of it whole wheat cousin. Even with this addition, it lacked fiber, and some of the amino acids found only in whole wheat bread.

That brings us up to today. We all know whole wheat bread is better for us, but some people just don’t like the flavor. The flavor of whole wheat is enhanced by the tannins that make bran shell brown. So when my kids said they didn’t like the taste, they were actually onto something. What to do? Look for the ingredient “white whole wheat flour”. This seems to be an oxymoron, but it’s real. The bran layer of this wheat is actually white, and it does not contain the tannins that give brown whole wheat its flavor.

In January our bakeries will be introducing two new breads that contain the white whole wheat flour. For some families, this taste might be the difference of eating whole grain breads or passing on them. Be sure to stop by the bakery and try a sample of our new All Natural Breads: Oatmeal Crunch and Apple Crisp. Whole grains never tasted so good.

[#2]

Good info here.

[#3]

Thank you Aniruddh.  

[#4]

I wish there were a way to bring back the Safeway brand "Nut and Grain" bread that I've been buying for the last 15 years. After discontinuing several other items, this was the last straw and I no longer shop at Safeway.

[#5]

Steve, we are sorry to hear that we have discontinued one of your preferred products. We appreciate your feedback and we will be sure to direct it to our Corporate Brands Department.