How to Avoid Being Ripped Off in the Bread Aisle

There's no real difference between many "whole wheat" breads and white bread but cost. Here are four key items to look for on whole wheat bread nutrition labels to ensure you're buying truly whole wheat bread, and not a marketing gimmick.

Also learn these 9 food label lies.

October 4, 2010 at 10:50AM by Marion Nestle | comment

My first-Sunday-of-the-month San Francisco Chronicle Q and A column, Food Matters, is out. This month it’s about figuring out what “whole wheat” labels mean on food packages.

Q: I pay $4 for multigrain or whole wheat breads because I’ve heard white bread isn’t as healthy. But when I compare nutrition labels, $2 white breads look much the same. Are they?

A: My Talmudic answer: yes and no. You are asking about commercial sliced breads. Bread may be the staff of life, but you would never know it from reading the ingredient lists of most commercial products.

Commercial breads are indeed much the same, with only a few differences that matter.

To decide whether these have anything in them worth eating beyond their calories, you must inspect labels to make sure:

The first ingredient is whole grain.
The total number of ingredients is small (five or less) and devoid of unpronounceable chemicals.
The fiber content is at least 2 grams per 1-ounce serving.
The label says 100 percent whole wheat.

Anything less is reconstituted white bread with occasional pieces of the original grain added back.

Read full column, with more tips and facts about whole wheat bread.

comment

Comments

Marion Nestle

Noted author Marion Nestle is a Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University. She is the author of What to Eat.
read full bio.

see all posts by this author