Companies Argue Over Whole Grain Standards
AP Associated Press June 16, 2005

Anyone who has ever chosen between toast and cereal for breakfast can relate to a fight between food companies over which one counts as an "excellent" source of whole grains. The answer is worth billions of dollars to cereal-makers such as General Mills Inc. and bread and pasta makers such as Sara Lee Corp., Campbell Soup Co., and ConAgra Foods Inc.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is weighing adopting General Mills' proposed standard that foods containing at least 16 grams of whole grains per serving are "an excellent source of whole grain" while 8 to 15 grams per serving is a "a good source of whole grain."

Bread and pasta makers argue that the definitions pushed by General Mills unfairly favor cereals and crackers over foods like bread and pasta whose water content makes them unlikely to meet what even General Mills says are high standards.

"The petition stacks the deck toward one food group," said Bill Nictakis, president of the Sara Lee Bakery Group's U.S fresh bread business in St. Louis. "If we set the bar too high, we will have less ability to tell the public about whole grains."

General Mills converted all of its cereals to whole grains last year, and spent millions promoting the switch.

Although the recently revised U.S. dietary guidelines and food pyramid recommend increased consumption of whole grains, industry executives say most consumers are unaware of whole grains and their significant health benefits. That's why some are calling for the FDA to eliminate consumer confusion by establishing labeling standards.

"It's probably one of the most crucial issues facing whole grains," said Len Marquart, an assistant professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota. "Until we can provide (whole-grain foods) with seals, logos, insignias, we can't educate, we can't market. We can't sell whole grains unless we can identify what whole grains (people) are consuming."

The 16-gram definition proposed by General Mills is based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's definition of a whole-grain serving, said Kathy Wiemer, senior manager of the company's Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition. General Mills is already using the "excellent" and "good" descriptions on its cereals.

Few dispute the need for standards. But some nutrition experts and food companies, especially bread manufacturers, say the 16 grams standard is much too high and will prevent many whole grain foods from carrying the "excellent source" label.

More water in bread means less room for whole grains. Thirty grams of cereal contains 3 percent or 4 percent moisture, while 30 grams of bread has 37 percent moisture.

Cereal and bread are two of the most frequently purchased items in American grocery stores, and competition between them is intense.

"It is important for everyone to understand what this issue is really all about," Stan Osman, vice president of bread marketing for Interstate Bakeries Corp. of Kansas City, said in a written statement. "If the intention of the new U.S. dietary guidelines is to get more whole-grain nutrition into the diets of consumers, the proposal by General Mills could have the opposite effect, as research has shown that most whole-grain servings are contributed by bread."

Gene Grabowski, a former vice president of the Grocery Manufacturers of America, one of the industry's largest lobbying groups, says such label jockeying is common in the food industry.

"In a business where (profit) margins are so modest, you have to look for any marketing advantage you can," said Grabowski, an executive with Levick Strategic Communications, a Washington consulting firm what works closely with food companies. "Getting a type of government approval is valuable."
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After "Big Ag" gets its mills into some whole grain, it's not so whole any more. Hits your system just like white flour.
Sig