Store Bought Whole Wheat bread? Is it really Whole wheat if they add White flour to it?

Question

I know Whole wheat bread is supposed to be more healthy than White bread (which is supposed to be poison), but I checked all the supposed whole wheat breads at the store (Schwebel, Nickles, and Wonder, even a few generic brands) and they all had listed on their ingredients, white flour was the first ingredient in them? How can they call this Real whole wheat bread or Rye bread, if the main ingredient is "White flour" ?

Am I missing something here? I thought whole wheat/rye bread shouldn't have "White flour as one of the first 2 main ingredients in it, should it?

Answer 1

I am a former chef and now a vegetarian and "Scott L" has got the point surrounded, first of all Whole Wheat flour has a very low gluten content, so white flour which has is added to make the dough more pliable and enrich it, the 60-80-100% names only refer to the amount of bran in the WW flours and the content as to the ratio of white to WW.

Now rye bread is bit different while it does contain white flour it is made differently and is more health in some respects, usually a sourdough type bread were they naturally ferment the dough with a sponge and add more to make it firmer. For a more natural less white flour bread look to sprouted grain, natural bakery were they will used unbleached flours and more whole grains and alternative grain flours like spelt, rice, teff, corn, millet, rye, linseed, buckwheat (which is actually a seed not a flour in the same word) and organics like flaxseed, hemp and sesame.

Answer 2

Most soft sandwich breads mix white flour in with whole grain flour.  100% whole grain bread can be very dense.  Keep reading labels until you find one that is all all whole grain.  A few manufacturers do manage to produce a relatively soft bread with all whole grains.

I just checked the label of my Pepperidge Farms 100% natural whole grain 9 grain bread and it looks like it is all whole grain.  No white flour.  It does have other (natural) ingredients to give it a lighter texture.

Answer 3

Unless it says 100% whole, it won't be.  Most supermarket breads that say wheat or rye are made with white flour as well.

Answer 4

You need to be careful.

If you see caramel or colours on the ingredient list, it is basically white bread that has been dyed brown to resemble wholemeal, brown or rye bread.

It is a way of making bread with cheap ingredients but tricking consumers into thinking they are really buying wholemeal, brown or rye bread.

Big corporations don’t care about your health, they only care about making big bucks the cheapest way possible. And most people fall for it because they only see what is advertised on the front of the package or believe what they see on TV, very few people bother reading ingredient lists.

True wholemeal, brown or rye bread is extremely hard to find these days. Better to make your own. Or avoid big commercial brands found in supermarkets and stick to gourmet or specialised breads found at independent bakeries, organic markets or health food stores.

True wholemeal, brown or rye bread should NOT have any white flour in at all.

EDIT - here is a link to some more info:

http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/...

.

Answer 5

1st.

i trust that it is what it says it is... and hope for the healthiest

2nd

Schwebles bread? Do you live near Youngstown Ohio? I was born and raised there and haven't seen Schwebles since I moved to CA!

Answer 6

In a way yes, because white flour comes from wheat, but at the same time no because it's just been bleached and tampered w/ it's actually really not all that healthy.

So brown wheat flour gets bleached and processed more to become white flour...

I hope this helps you..

Answer 7

Experiment with baking your own bread. It's fun and you can make all sorts of trials with many kinds of flour. You will probably discover several recipes that you like and can't be found for sale anywhere.

Here's one tip: Flours other than wheat have little or no gluten, which means that when they are baked the come out heavy and often crumbly. To avoid this, buy gluten. (It's expensive, but you can stretch it.) Add some to any recipe and it will help bind the bread.

Answer 8

There are different types of white bread.  The white bread to stay away from is bleached, heavily refined white.  Unbleached flour is actually quite nutritious and easier to digest than whole wheat.  

Regarding whole wheat, it is healthier than the standard bleached processed breads but you have to read the labels.  Most breads in the supermarket will be mixed with white like you pointed out.  

Here's the thing though, even the 100% whole wheat in super markets are loaded with dough conditioners, high fructose corn syrup and preservatives and a long list of other incomprehensible ingredients, so I would recommend going to a health food store or Trader Joe's.   At Trader Joe's for instance all the bread will be fresh and made from all unrefined, unbleached flours without strange ingredients that make the bread taste manufactured and not baked..  Most of there breads are quite nutritious and taste 100% better than any Nickles or Wonder breads.  

So when you ask are you missing something? The answer is yes!  Go elsewhere besides the supermarket and discover what bread really should be and taste like.  Good Luck!

Answer 9

no you are right, you have to look for 100% whole wheat bread, and the only flour in the ingredients should be wheat flour, or in the case of rye bread, rye flour. Just do as you are doing and always read labels before buying something so you know what you are getting.