This column is part of our Last Word series, which invites noted professionals to provide closing thoughts at the end of each issue of Commercial Baking. See the full issue here.
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ST. PAUL, MN — Humans have had a relationship with bread for centuries, from the Bible calling it the “staff of life” to cultures using it in reference to currency. This once-unbreakable bond has certainly had its ups and downs in recent history, with the past 20 years seeing bread vilified by health-food fanatics, lauded by Oprah Winfrey and, most recently, hoarded by consumers during the pandemic.
There has also been a movement away from processed foods, both those that we would like people to choose more infrequently (such as soda and indulgent desserts) and others that we believe people should continue to eat … including bread.
While there’s plenty of rhetoric on both sides, I whole-heartedly argue that contending “humans did not evolve to eat grains” is absolute hogwash.
For starters, discoveries of stone mills with grain remnants alongside cave paintings and of grain DNA in the calculus of Paleolithic-era human teeth disprove the assertion that eating grains is something new. But the unfortunate fact is that trends — especially catchy food fads that regularly and rapidly rise under the guise of scientific theories — can easily permeate a society and achieve staying power. I have family members who suffer from celiac disease, and I fully understand how seriously gluten affects them.
But I also know gluten isn’t harmful to the vast majority of people. Many don’t question some self-appointed experts, so it’s more important than ever that the industry reasserts how essential bread is for the 99% of people without celiac.
The truth is, bread hasn’t changed. But its image has, and it’s time for the baking industry to capitalize on its renewed awareness by touting the nutritional benefits of this cross-cultural culinary staple.
New research has shown that intake of all grain foods — from whole, enriched to refined grains — provides adults with 30% of the dietary requirements for iron, calcium and folic acid. That’s almost double the contribution to caloric intake. Grains are also on par with the recommended amounts of magnesium and dietary fiber. And if you look at the detractors, grains provide 14% or less of the total sodium and saturated fat and 7% or less of the added sugars in the recommended daily intake.
The truth is, bread hasn’t changed. But its image has, and it’s time for the baking industry to capitalize on its renewed awareness by touting the nutritional benefits of this cross-cultural culinary staple. When consumers criticize bread, we must remind them that grains are, in fact, a miracle food that has nourished populations for millennia and, during times of crisis and comfort, will always give us a nutritional bang for our buck.
