Baking & Snack - May 2022 - 22

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years
timeline and a smaller scale, " said Sarah Corwin, PhD,
RD, senior principal scientist, plant-based, Ajinomoto
Health & Nutrition, who studied carbohydrate chemistry
and digestion at Purdue University. " By having largescale
refinement technology, we observed that the fat, B
vitamins and proteins in whole grain spoiled the flour,
so the shelf life was much shorter. This wasn't a problem
before because we were consuming it as it was produced,
but now we're able to create very large amounts of flour
and baked goods way ahead of what we needed, so we
needed to extend the shelf life of that flour. "
To do that, millers removed the bran and germ, extending
the shelf life at the expense of the nutritional
value. Most baked goods were then made with refined
grain, but because grain-based foods made up the bulk
of the American diet, it wasn't long before nutrition deficiencies
started showing up in the population.
To counteract that, the United States government beMilling
technology
and better
formulating
knowledge has
enabled baking
companies to
create whole grain
breads that are
palatable.
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gan food fortification and enrichment programs: adding
iodine on a voluntary basis to salt in 1924 and vitamin D
to milk in 1933. In 1940, flour entered the spotlight with
the Committee on Food and Nutrition recommending
it be enriched with thiamin, niacin, riboflavin and
iron. The US Food & Drug Administration established
a standard of identity for enriched flour including these
initial nutrients, and by 1942 much of the bread being
produced in the US was meeting this standard voluntarily.
In 1998, folic acid fortification was added to the
standard of identity to address neural tube birth defects.
" It's been documented since that time that the incidence
of neural
tube birth defects has fallen precipitously,
and it's directly related to that, " said Glenn
Gaesser, PhD, professor, College of Health Solutions
at Arizona State University, and member of the Grain
Foods Foundation Scientific Advisory Board. " And you
see that in countries that don't have mandatory fortification
you don't see the same sort of benefits. It's just one
example, but it's pretty clear cut. "
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates
that this addition has prevented neural tube birth
defects in about 1,300 babies each year. These defects
have decreased by 35% in the US since 1998.
While enrichment has certainly boosted the nutrition
of refined flour - and complex carbohydrates offered
by refined flour are also helpful to the human body
- whole grains offer an elevated nutritional profile to
consumers. While commercial baking may have been
geared toward refined flour because of the ease of production
and shelf life, the scientific community has been
wise to the nutritional powerhouse that is whole grains
for quite some time.
" In the mid-19th century, when nutrition science was
only in its infancy, whole grains were a staple food in
American health sanitariums, " said Kelly LeBlanc, MLA,
RD, LDN, director of nutrition, Oldways. " In
fact, many commercial whole grains today,
such as graham flour and whole
grain cereal, can be traced to the
teachings of Sylvester Graham and
John Harvey Kellogg, who were
prominent and controversial health
influencers of their time. "
Even at the turn of the century,
Ms. LeBlanc pointed out that scientists
noticed people eating brown
rice in East Asia were significantly
less likely to develop beriberi, a
chronic disease that is potentially
deadly, than their counterparts who
were eating white rice.
" This finding paved the way
for the discovery of vitamins and
helped shape our understanding
of the nutritional value that whole
grains have to offer, " she explained.
" Over the years, as nutrition scientists
learned more about the
importance of micronutrients like
vitamins and minerals, as well as
other essential nutrients like fiber,
22 Baking & Snack May 2022 / www.bakingbusiness.com
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Baking & Snack - May 2022

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