When 'Wheat' Really Means 'White':
Deconstructing Labels in Bread Aisle

The supermarket bread aisle is packed with hearty-sounding multi-grain and wheat varieties. But many of them aren't much more than dressed up white bread.

Bread makers use food coloring, brown wrappers and healthful-sounding words like "stone-ground," "cracked-wheat" and "multi-grain" to make their breads sound more nutritious than they really are. As a result, figuring out which breads are best can be tricky.

The solution isn't to shun bread altogether -- you just have to learn how to pick the right loaf. Although bread has gotten a bad rap in recent years with the popularity of low-carbohydrate diets, the truth is that certain breads are an excellent source of fiber, zinc, iron, folic acids, minerals and B-vitamins. Many people don't get nearly enough fiber, which can help stave off cancer and heart disease.

And for parents worried about junk food and lousy school meals, the lunch box peanut butter and jelly sandwich served on the right kind of bread may be their best opportunity to feed their child a healthful food he or she actually likes to eat.

"So many people don't understand about bread," says William Sears, a well-known San Clemente, Calif., pediatrician and author who has dedicated an entire chapter to bread in his "Family Nutrition Book."

"They think because it has a brown color it's better, and they just don't understand what to look for," he says.

THE WHEAT AND THE CHAFF Can you spot the healthier wheat bread? • Look for "whole" on the label -- Choose breads made with whole wheat or grains   • Don't be impressed by "wheat" -- Even white bread is made with wheat flour   • "Enriched" isn't always best -- Bread often is enriched because it's been stripped of many nutrients   • "Multi-grain" can be misleading -- Many multi-grain breads are made with the same flour as white breads   Answer: "B" is made with whole wheat flour.

Most popular breads are made with some type of wheat flour. But a wheat kernel has three layers -- the fiber-rich bran outer-layer, the endosperm middle layer, and the wheat germ, the nutrient-dense embryo. Bread makers often strip away the bran and the germ, which allows them to make soft, airy breads with a longer shelf life. To make the bread white, the flour is bleached, and extra vitamins and minerals are added to replace the lost nutrients.

But highly refined white breads like Wonder Bread are the bane of nutritionists. The added nutrients can't replace the lost fiber, and refined foods are processed by the body more quickly than whole foods -- causing a spike in blood glucose, which gives you a quick surge of energy followed by a crash that leads, again, to hunger.

And bread doesn't have to be white to be highly refined. Many "wheat" breads and "multi-grain" breads sound healthful, but the first and main ingredient is the same enriched wheat flour used in white bread, with a smattering of added grains and color to give the bread a slightly different texture and look than white bread.

Maier's Country 10 Select Grains for instance, promises that it's a "special blend of hearty grains and other wholesome ingredients." But check the label and you'll see that the first ingredient is bleached enriched wheat flour, and each slice contains less than one gram of fiber. Many multi-grain varieties contain less than 2% of the grains they promise on the front of the package.

The presence of whole grains makes all the difference. The label on Pepperidge Farm's 9-Grain Natural Whole Grain breads shows that the first ingredient is 100% whole wheat flour, and each slice packs 3 grams of fiber.

"I think consumers have been misled," says Bonnie Liebman, director of nutrition for the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "Many people see multigrain or 12-grain and they confuse that with whole grain. A lot of them look brown or come in brown wrappers so you can't tell."

Bread makers say they offer a variety of breads because consumers demand it. Pepperidge Farm spokeswoman Nan Redmond says bread taste and texture preferences can vary dramatically, which is why the company offers four distinct bread lines, including one made with natural whole grains as well as those with a "smoother texture" and low-calorie varieties. She says that while all the company's breads are nutritious, this month it began putting label information on the front of its natural whole grains line so consumers could more easily see the nutritional benefits.

If you know how to read the package, picking the most nutritious bread isn't hard. Make sure the first ingredient contains the word "whole" -- either whole wheat or another whole grain. The first ingredient in Arnold's Real Jewish Rye bread, for instance, is enriched wheat flour -- refined rye flour is the third ingredient, and a slice contains less than one gram of fiber. But the first ingredient in Baker's Whole Grain Rye is whole rye, and each slice has nearly 5 grams of fiber.

Although "light" varieties are often recommended for dieters, remember that giving up calories can mean giving up fiber. Pepperidge Farm's Light Style 7-Grain has less than a gram of fiber per 45-calorie slice. Switching to the firm's whole grain variety adds only 45 more calories but gives you more than triple the fiber. When comparing brands, pay close attention to serving size -- labels can list fiber content for anywhere from one to three slices. Try to pick breads with at least 3 grams of fiber per serving.

Because parents often complain that their child won't eat anything but white bread, Dr. Sears suggests taking kids to the bread aisle. Have the child hold a loaf of whole grain bread in one hand and a loaf of white bread in the other. The whole grain varieties are much weightier. "I tell them that the white bread is air bread," says Dr. Sears. "Whole grain is heavier because it's muscle bread. Parents can use the supermarket as a giant nutritional classroom."