The Wonder Of Bread Preferences

(Tuesday, January 10, 2006) - I heard a segment on National Public Radio recently about Wonder Bread falling on hard times.

The maker of the iconic white bread so revered by my generation (my childhood home being a rare exception) filed for bankruptcy protection in 2004. Last year, it closed eight bakeries across the country, and as of this month, according to NPR, it's no longer available to consumers in Washington and Oregon.

My first thought was: Well, duh. People have been switching to whole-grain breads for some time now.

Then I thought about the bread I bring into my home. You know, it's not as though we nutrition-minded folks have abandoned white bread. . . . Far from it. It's just taken on different forms.

Now we look to artisan bread bakers to give us the likes of a crispy-chewy "rustic Italian" or a "country sourdough." We frequent upscale French bistros and chain sandwich spots like Panera for a trendy Turkey Artichoke Panini or a classic Croque Monsieur. Indeed, Breadsmith's most popular breads are its white breads.

Wonder-ous Tales
But "we" seem to be in a minority. The masses, meanwhile, still throw bags of enriched white bread (the generic of the classic Wonder Bread) into their supermarket carts more than any other kind.

This is still the most popular bread in America.

"And it probably will continue to be for a while," said Marcia Scheideman, president of the Wheat Foods Council in Denver, an organization whose mission is to promote the consumption of grain foods. "There is a market for enriched white bread, and it's a segment that will probably never go away."

That segment includes parents who buy it for their kids - but also discerning adults.

"People say in consumer research they prefer the taste of enriched white bread," Scheideman said. "Over and over and over again, that's what they say."

Since the new U.S. Dietary Guidelines were released last January, there has been a steady push to increase whole grains in our diet.

As a result, "millers and bakers and manufacturers are looking for ways they can add nutrition (to bread) while not compromising taste," Scheideman said, adding that this led to "a whole explosion of new products."

Even Wonder Bread now has a bread that is marketed as 100% whole-grain. White Bread Fans 100% Whole Grain bread should be available nationwide early this year.

Scheideman hasn't read up on this product, but she guesses that - like similar products from its competitors - it's made from white wheat as opposed to red wheat. The traditional bread grain in this country, she explained, is hard red wheat. Compared with red wheat, the hard white wheat is lighter in color and doesn't have "what people describe as a bitter taste."

Meanwhile, a majority of the flour that's milled is still enriched white, and a majority of bread that's made and sold is still enriched white bread.

"The millers tell me it's a 1-to-9 ratio, whole-grain flour milled to white flour milled," Scheideman said. "But that is undergoing change."

What's the next new thing in breads?
Hybrid breads, said Scheideman, "those that fall between the traditional enriched white bread and the Great Harvest-style hearty wheat breads."
Breads made with the hard white wheat are part of this marriage. Another example is breads made with half whole-grain flour and half enriched white flour.
But there's more to this story. Wonder Bread, aside from its dubious "helps build strong bodies 12 ways" claim, offered a homogenous size, color and squishy quality that many kids of the Boomer era appreciated - and everyone understood.

Today, with all of the artisan breads and now these hybrids on the horizon, it can get a lot more confusing for the consumer.

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