1. True/false: You can tell if a food is “whole grain” by its color.
2. True/false: You can tell if a food is “whole grain” by the food ingredient list.
3. True/false: You can tell if a food is “whole grain” by words such as “multigrain” on the front of the package.
The answers are 1. False; 2. True; 3. False
Read the ingredient label to learn about your food choices. Look for one or more of these words as the first ingredient in a whole-grain food:
- brown rice
- oatmeal
- whole rye
- bulgur
- whole-grain corn
- whole wheat
- graham flour
- whole oats
- wild rice
Color is not a good indication of a whole grain. Breads can be brown because of added molasses, artificial colorings or other colored ingredients. Foods labeled with “multigrain,” “stone-ground,” “100 percent wheat,” “cracked wheat,” “seven-grain” or “bran” usually are not whole-grain products.
Look for the whole-grain health claim on the front of food packages. Whole-grain foods that meet Food and Drug Administration guidelines also can carry a health claim such as the following: “Diets high in plant foods, i.e., fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole-grain cereals, are associated with a lower occurrence of coronary heart disease and cancers of the lung, colon, esophagus and stomach.”
