What does it mean???

Okay, so we know we are supposed to be eating whole grains, right??? We used to live in Denver and I would go to the store and get "wheat bread". I thought everything was fine and I was feeding my kids healthy, whole wheat bread. Here was my checklist... Is it brown? Check. Does it say "Wheat bread"? Check. Is it healthy... of course...it says "wheat"! Then, my friend Stacey, who is a dietitian, told me that it can say "wheat" without being "whole wheat" and told me I needed to check the label, which I did and...wait a minute!!! Things were very different than I originally thought!!!

How do you know if it is 100% whole wheat or enriched, or colored to look like wheat? Flip it over and look at the back of the package. The first ingredient should be WHOLE wheat flour...if it instead says "bleached", "enriched", or "unbleached", chances are good it's not the real deal!!! Other trap words are "multi-grain", "made with whole grains", and "whole grain". These terms tell you NOTHING concerning the percentage of whole grains in the product. So, always check the label to make sure it says 100% whole wheat or 100% whole grain so that you are getting what you are paying for!!!


FYI: If you use my bread recipe and make your own...you'll never have to worry about how confusing that darn label can be!!!

P.S. Thanks Stacey for all of your wisdom in the nutritional area...I still can't believe your kids snacked on peas!!!