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Whole wheat bread lightens up - to white

Grocery shelves aren't lying: Whole grains come in a whole new color. Still, read the fine print.

OMAHA, Neb. - Looks like white bread. Tastes like it, too. But is it?

It took scientists eight long years and millions of dollars to sneak whole grains into that spongy, yeasty, unhealthy diet icon. Now that they've done it, food manufacturers have begun releasing products they hope will get people to eat whole grains.

The thinking was to get more health into the bread and other products people like. But in the process, they've created some confusion, even as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is trying to define whole grain products.

ConAgra Foods Inc., one of the nation's largest foodmakers, spent at least eight years and several million dollars developing Ultragrain White Whole Wheat. The grain was bred for its properties and is not genetically modified, said Garth Neuffer, a spokesman for the Omaha, Neb., company.

One year since its unveiling, Ultragrain is turning up in cookies, pasta, crackers and other products. These products come as the USDA's new food pyramid recommends people make whole grains at least half of their daily grain consumption.

Sara Lee Corp., one of ConAgra's larger customers, last month launched its Soft & Smooth bread, a loaf with Ultragrain that appears white, but is 30 percent whole grain. Meanwhile, Interstate Bakeries Corp.'s Wonder Bread - a name synonymous with fluffy white bread - is test-marketing its own white bread with 100 percent whole grain and plans a wide release next year.

The business of balancing kids' finicky tastes with the government's nutritional guidelines is attracting school officials.

Some 2,600 school districts have signed up to carry at least one of ConAgra's Ultragrain items - which include burritos, chimichangas and the Max pizza, a pie made with a crust that's half whole grain - Neuffer said.

But not everyone likes the new products. With fat kids in the headlines and obesity now called an epidemic, experts are divided on the merits of such an approach.

Touting products with a small percentage of whole grain is a marketing gimmick that could confuse well-meaning parents, said Dr. Fred Pescatore, a Manhattan internist who specializes in nutrition.

"What they're doing is playing to the marketplace perception that whole grain is good for us - which it certainly is - but they're putting a little bit in there so they can say that it's there," Pescatore said. "They're not really doing a great service."

General Mills Inc., which now offers whole-grain cereals, has petitioned the government to define whole grains, said Kim Rawlings, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. According to FDA guidelines, products must have only whole-wheat flour to be labeled as "whole wheat."

Pescatore argues that parents should just take the leap and change to whole grain.

"If we don't make really significant inroads in this, where will we be in 10 to 15 years?" Pescatore said. "We can't afford to have people continue to be sick and eating themselves to death."

[Last modified August 9, 2005, 11:32:57]