wheat != whole wheat

The BBQ Pit
1

There have been a couple of posts touching on this subject, but it’s high time for a pit.

“Wheat bread” is one of the biggest food scams out there (though not by a long shot the most dangerous).

What I don’t get is, why can’t folks understand this?

Like the other day, our department was having a working lunch, and one person went out for fixings. I asked for whole wheat bread, and got “Wheat bread?” as a response. Understandable. So I say, “Make sure it says ‘100% whole grain’ or ‘100% whole wheat’, otherwise it’s just regular bread with some food coloring or molasses.”

He comes back with “wheat bread”. And I know that the grocery store he went to carries 100% whole grain breads. (I say nothing and eat it, of course. Btw, we get along great – he wasn’t trying to tick me off or anything.)

Or a couple months ago, I’m in a high-end sandwich shop. I ask if any of the breads are whole grain.

The guy behind the counter points to pictures of the sandwiches on the menu board and says, “This is the ‘hearty wheat’, and this is the ‘9 grain’.” <stares at me>

Me: “Yeah. Are either of them whole grain?”

Guy: “Well, the ‘hearty wheat’ is wheat, and the ‘9 grain’ is a bunch of different grains.”

Me: “Yeah, but are either of them whole grain?”

Guy (flustered): “Uh… I… uh, I dunno.” <stares at me>

Me: “Can you ask?”

Ok, I feel much better now. :slight_smile:

2

Yep. I gave the heck up and learned how to bake bread from scratch. Ha! Now I can 100% whole wheat when I want. I can have 100% whole oat bran! I can have 100% whole grain spelt with steel-cut 100% oatmeal, dried cherry, pecan and cinnamon bread ! But I can’t have them long. Grocery store breads linger around the joint for weeks, but homemade breads seem to go away in 48 hours. I recommend finding a place to sell you health-foody type flours.

3

I had a clever post, but it lost steam partway through.

You’re picky, but quite specific about your bread.
Go You! :smiley:

4

I know what you mean. When I order a sub, they always ask me, “White or wheat?” This gets on my nerves. Because they are BOTH wheat! Wheat is NOT the opposite of white, you idiots! It is the alternative to corn, oat, rye, or potato! I do not say this aloud, however. I just say “white” (as you noted, there is little difference between the two anyway) and go my merry way.

But it still gets on my nerves!

5

Actually, for me, it’s not a nitpick. Processed flour does not treat me well. And, imho, adding more whole grains would benefit just about anybody who eats a typical modern American diet. Many folks who do want to add whole grains think they’re getting them when they order or buy “wheat” bread, and they’re being ripped off. The processed foods industry is well aware of what they’re doing – else they would not use the food coloring and other agents, and sprinkle a few oats and seeds on top, to make the product resemble whole grain.

6

It’s an old article, but informative: Bread Buying Guide

From the article that links to the guide:

Sample_the_Dog, it would be nice for their customers, if the “high-end” sandwich shop you went to actually trained (and/or manager’s encouraged training) their employees to know their product, not just make freakin’ sandwiches. But, hey, it’s probably pretty close to minimum wage. I’ve worked with people who figure they’re not paid enough to care enough to give any more than the bare minimum. :mad:

7

Maybe it’s just Australia, but I don’t know of anyone who could not tell the difference. I haven’t even heard of this “wheat bread”.
Breads either white, wholemeal or whole-grain. What I don’t get is why whole-grain and wholemeal are more expensive? You’re putting less effort into making it, right? I prefer wholemeal or wholegrain as well.

8

I’ve worked plenty of minimum wage jobs, and not one trained me for more than a few hours. Several of them just kind of tossed me in. And nobody is going to put in much more than the minimum for a job that offers no chances of advancement, no future at the company, no real way to excell and no benefits and minimum salary (heck, it’s hard to do a job if you are hungry, cold, have crappy shoes or don’t have a real home- all the things that happen on minimum wage.) If you want service, you have to pay for it. Vote with your feet and tell these corporations that you are not okay with a minimally-trained, disposable workforce.

9

I am in complete agreement with you. :slight_smile:

10

Agreed w/ the above re food service jobs. (I’ve held many of them myself, from cooking to serving to bartending.) What struck me about the Sandwich Guy was that he didn’t even seem to comprehend what I was asking. If he had, his first response should have been, “I don’t know. Let me check.”

(Btw, he did ask a manager when I asked him to – none of it was whole grain.)

I lay the blame primarily at the feet of the processed foods industry, which invented this “wheat bread” designation as a marketing ploy intended to fool people who are actually trying to do the right thing. But I also blame the restaurants, cafeterias, caterers, and other businesses who buy the stuff and promote it.

::sigh:: So much for that resolution to be a less critical, more compassionate person. :frowning:

11

What is the difference between wholemeal and wholegrain?

12

I have such a hard time convincing my wife that Amy’s Organic products that use “Organic Wheat Flour” are not using Whole Wheat Flour, they’re using organic wheat processed into white flour. If it was whole wheat, it would say “Organic Whole Wheat Flour”

Some breads termed “whole wheat” are plain white breads with some of the flour whole grain for color and texture, they’re not 100% whole wheat. You have to watch that ingredient list.

13

Never go to Montreal, where the colloquial terms for bread are “white” and “brown”

14

Wholemeal = ungrained brown bread
whole-grain = white or brown grained bread

15

Grained? Ungrained? Huh?

I tried doing some searching and could only seem to come up with references to candy, leather, and wood.

Y’all sure talk funny down there.

16

This is news to me. I pay very little attention to what I eat; breads in my universe are divided into the following:
[ul]
[li]White bread[/li][li]Sandwich bread[/li][li]Weird health-nut bread[/li][li]“French bread,” which includes all breads sold in unsliced loaves[/li][/ul]
That said, since you made it very clear to your coworker what you wanted, yeah, he should have gotten it. If I were in his shoes, I’d have made you write it down as soon as you started getting really specific about it.

17

It’s more expensive because the flour and the bread both go bad more quickly than white flour and bread, because in addition to the germ, they still contain many of the oils from the grain. The baker or manufacturer (I shudder to call most store breads “baked”) has to buy smaller batches and keep them refridgerated, or they go rancid on him. Once made, the bread has to be shipped to stores and sold more quickly. These things make it more expensive to produce and distribute.

18

Uh, thank you for answering. Unfortunately, I can’t extract any additional info from your answer. :frowning:

“ungrained” – does this mean ‘not made from grain’? As in, no wheat, rice, barley, oats, corn, etc? If so, what is left that is IS made from?

19

Ah, Memphis. Land of the fried peanut butter and banana sandwich. Oh, how I love those. <<insert drool smiley here>> I try to be good, but I do have my weaknesses.

20

‘Grained’ bread – I suspect that’s brown bread with lumpy bits in it. "Ungrained’ bread – I guess that’s brown bread sans lumps which may or may not be whole wheat. Wholemeal flour is whole wheat flour but that doesn’t mean that all brown bread sold here is actually made with whole wheat flour. We’ve got white bread coloured with caramel, masquerading as healthy available here too.