# Are white flour and wheat flour the same? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-white-flour-and-wheat-flour-the-same/615050 "2012-03-07T17:40:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-white-flour-and-wheat-flour-the-same/615050/1 "2012-03-07T17:40:52Z")
I am playing a [weight loss game](http://www.thegameondiet.com/)with my friends, and one of the things we can’t have is white flour. Now, I know the difference between enriched flour and whole wheat flour, but in reading ingredient labels, some things list “wheat flour”. Not whole wheat flour, just “wheat flour”. Is wheat flour different from white flour? Can I eat, say Trader Joe’s Chicken & Vegetable Won Ton soup on this diet if the won ton wraps are made with wheat flour? Or is calling it wheat flour just a sneaky way to NOT say it’s white flour when it’s actually white flour? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-white-flour-and-wheat-flour-the-same/615050/2 "2012-03-07T17:43:17Z")
Actually, regulations in some countries require it to list the actual cereal it’s from. And yes, if it doesn’t say “whole”, it’s “white flour”. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-white-flour-and-wheat-flour-the-same/615050/3 "2012-03-07T17:44:59Z")
Rats. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-white-flour-and-wheat-flour-the-same/615050/4 "2012-03-07T17:49:36Z")
In the US, “whole wheat flour” is flour made from the complete kernel of wheat. White flour is refined to remove the germ and bran. “Wheat flour” is a combination of the two. It’s white flour to which some whole wheat flour has been added. The amount is up to the manufacturer. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-white-flour-and-wheat-flour-the-same/615050/5 "2012-03-07T17:51:13Z")
Interesting. And, rats. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-white-flour-and-wheat-flour-the-same/615050/6 "2012-03-07T18:28:57Z")
Shoot, not even all white flour is the same, as any pastry chef can tell you. The famous White Lily flour is from soft winter wheat and is lower in protein (by half) than hard winter wheat, making it superior for things that need a flaky crust or that need to be light (like pancakes). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-white-flour-and-wheat-flour-the-same/615050/7 "2012-03-07T18:46:58Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > “Wheat flour” is a combination of the two. It’s white flour to which some whole wheat flour has been added. The amount is up to the manufacturer. Do you have some labeling regulation that you could point to? My impression has always been that without further adjectives, “wheat flour” is the same as “white flour.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-white-flour-and-wheat-flour-the-same/615050/8 "2012-03-07T18:51:51Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > In the US, “whole wheat flour” is flour made from the complete kernel of wheat. White flour is refined to remove the germ and bran. > > “Wheat flour” is a combination of the two. It’s white flour to which some whole wheat flour has been added. The amount is up to the manufacturer. Upon further research, it appears that this is just straight-up [incorrect.](http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfCFR/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=137.105) “Flour, white flour, wheat flour, and plain flour” are all synonymous in the FDA’s eyes. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-white-flour-and-wheat-flour-the-same/615050/9 "2012-03-07T20:09:25Z")
Not incorrect. Though the FDA doesn’t differentiate, in the real world wheat flour has some whole wheat as a marketing gimmick. Customers expect it to be darker than regular white flour. You can use any percentage of whole wheat to darken it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-white-flour-and-wheat-flour-the-same/615050/10 "2012-03-07T20:17:37Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Not incorrect. Though the FDA doesn’t differentiate, in the real world wheat flour has some whole wheat as a marketing gimmick. Customers expect it to be darker than regular white flour. You can use any percentage of whole wheat to darken it. Can you show me an example of what you’re talking about? If it says “wheat flour” on the ingredients list, it’s white flour. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-white-flour-and-wheat-flour-the-same/615050/11 "2012-03-07T20:24:25Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Not incorrect. Though the FDA doesn’t differentiate, in the real world wheat flour has some whole wheat as a marketing gimmick. Customers expect it to be darker than regular white flour. You can use any percentage of whole wheat to darken it. I agree with RealityChuck. Wiki says what one of the other posters said: **Wheat Flour** - made from grinding wheat. **White** Flour is made from the endosperm only (insert crude pistil joke here) **Whole Grain** or **Wholemeal** Flour is made from the bran, endosperm, and germ. **Germ** Flour is made from the endosperm and germ. The rest, they say, is marketing. I assume that if you advertise whole wheat or whole grain (as the cereal companies do today), that it means the same percentages of endosperm, germ and bran that are in the wheat grain are in the box. But there doesn’t seem to be any hard and fast rules. ETA: **Bleached flour** is a wheat flour treated with flour bleaching agents to whiten it (freshly milled flour is yellowish). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-white-flour-and-wheat-flour-the-same/615050/12 "2012-03-07T20:29:54Z")
> [@ministryman](#): > > I agree with RealityChuck. Wiki says what one of the other posters said: > > **Wheat Flour** - made from grinding wheat. > **White** Flour is made from the endosperm only (insert crude pistil joke here) > **Whole Grain** or **Wholemeal** Flour is made from the bran, endosperm, and germ. > **Germ** Flour is made from the endosperm and germ. > > The rest, they say, is marketing. I assume that if you advertise whole wheat or whole grain (as the cereal companies do today), that it means the same percentages of endosperm, germ and bran that are in the wheat grain are in the box. But there doesn’t seem to be any hard and fast rules. > > ETA: **Bleached flour** is a wheat flour treated with flour bleaching agents to whiten it (freshly milled flour is yellowish). Read the FDA labeling laws. Wheat flour, generically, is synonymous with white flour and plain flour. It specifically states that wheat flour is “freed from its bran coat.” Regardless “wheat flour” generically does not mean, as **RealityChuck** contends, that it is white flour mixed with whole wheat flour. I’ll allow that as a valid definition for “wheat flour,” regardless of what the FDA says, but the term in and of itself does not mean it’s a mixture of flours. It can be regular ol’ white flour made from wheat, by definition, including yours. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-white-flour-and-wheat-flour-the-same/615050/13 "2012-03-07T20:34:45Z")
[Furthermore](http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocuments/FoodLabelingNutrition/ucm059088.htm): > [@](#): > > We note that wheat flour should not be labeled as a whole grain flour because wheat flour is a synonym of flour (§ 137.105), and thus, the bran and germ have been removed. This is a GQ-type question, and the question is about an ingredients label in the US. How much more do you want? That’s as official an answer as you’re going to get. If the ingredients label says “wheat flour” it means the same as “white flour.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-white-flour-and-wheat-flour-the-same/615050/14 "2012-03-07T20:48:18Z")
And, just for fun, go to the cupboard and look at the ingredients list for your white flour, and tell me what you see…