The survey shows that although most consumers believe that whole grains are more nutritious and healthier than refined grains, only 24.6% of consumers are able to say what whole grains are. (Visual China/Photo)
"The 'pastoral' whole wheat bread, which claims to be the first to sell, Wei Ya carries the goods, and is recommended by Dr. Lilac, has a measured energy 40% higher than the publicity, and the carbohydrate is 16% more than the nominal." On August 30, 2021, a test report released by the WeChat public account of the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission made Liu Yao, who has been relying on this whole wheat bread for a healthy diet and maintaining a good figure, feel "broken dreams".
A day later, the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission made corrections to some of the reported data: the measured energy value of the product was 1001kJ/100g, which was 131% of the label value; the measured value of sodium was 249mg/100g, which was 233% of the labeled value, which violated the provisions of the General Principles of Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Food. The carbohydrate is 16% more than the nominal one, which meets the above national standard regulations.
As a brand that has emerged in the trend of light food replacement, Pastoralism was born in May 2018, and its product line covers all categories of healthy meal replacement: not only breakfast bread, but also sugar-free low-calorie snacks, meal replacement drinks, low-calorie noodles, etc. On June 1, 2021, its Tmall flagship store sold about 164,000 whole wheat breads in the hours from 00:00.
At the end of 2020, Yuanqi Forest, which became popular with sugar-free sparkling water, took a stake in Hangzhou Light Foodism Health Technology Co., Ltd., the parent company of pastoralism, holding 20% of the shares.
On August 31, Pastoralism issued an announcement saying that it would suspend the sale of the products involved in the testing and arrange for multi-agency and multi-batch re-inspection of related products. For the reason for the removal, Hangzhou Light FoodIsm Health Technology Co., Ltd. refused to be interviewed by a reporter from Southern Weekend. The customer service of the idyllic Jingdong self-operated flagship store told the Southern Weekend reporter, "To prevent people with hearts from intentionally harming, we have taken it down independently." ”
Pastoralist whole wheat bread testing is just the beginning. Tang Jiansheng, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission, revealed to Southern Weekend reporters that a consumer purchased many brands of whole wheat bread for them to test, and they will release other test results one after another.
In fact, due to the vague understanding of consumers about whole grains, there is no unified international definition of whole grain food, and the "overturning" of the pastoral nutrition ingredient list implies the plight of the entire whole grain food.
<h3>Nutrition facts table "rollover"</h3>
According to the "pastoralist" announcement, the product testing report of low-fat whole-wheat European package is issued by Henan Baixinda Testing Technology Co., Ltd., and the product identification carried out accordingly complies with the relevant regulations of the General Principles of Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Food. According to the April 30 test report of Pastoralism, the energy of this whole wheat bread is 764kJ/100g, and the carbohydrate is 33.5g/100g, which is the same as the label in the product's nutrition factstable.
Yun Wuxin, a doctor of food engineering, is also puzzled by the difference between the two test reports. Taking protein as an example, the shanghai municipal consumer protection commission measured the protein value of the pastoralist product as 16.4g/100g, which is 256% of the labeled value, but the national standard requires that the actual protein content reach more than 80% of the labeled value as compliant. "It's weird, according to common sense, we all want the product to be high in protein and good in nutrition."
According to Yun Wuxin, there are two main ways to determine the nutritional composition list of food. One is to send the typical product to the testing agency after the product is finalized, and the nutrient content is determined according to the test results. The other is not tested, and is calculated directly from the product formula. However, in either way, the actual measured value of the product and the identification value need to be within the error range specified by the national standard.
Yun Wuxin believes that judging by the test results, the nutritional composition list of this product of Pastoralism is "completely chaotic". Tang Jiansheng also mentioned that the experts they invited before the test believe that the nutrition facts list "cannot form a closed loop".
Judging from the order of the ingredient list, the pastoralist bread whole wheat flour ranks first, and it has a high fiber content. (Visual China/Photo)
Yun Wuxin observed that in reality, there will be companies that directly modify the nutrition content list of similar products instead of being tested. At the same time, there are also poor quality control levels in some enterprises, resulting in huge differences in different batches of products.
Southern Weekend reporters to "whole wheat bread" as a keyword on the Taobao platform search, the customer service of several higher ranking products said that the proportion of whole wheat sold was 100%, and some merchants provided a variety of whole wheat bread with a total wheat ratio of 50% and 100%. The energy and sodium content per 100 grams of energy and sodium identified in the nutrition composition table of seven-year five-season black whole wheat bread and tongue-in-cheeky seed bread are similar to the measured values of the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission's pastoralism test.
"In terms of the order of the ingredient list, this rustic bread whole wheat flour comes first, and it has a high fiber content." Yun Wuxin judged from this that although the nutrition facts table was "overturned", it was a genuine whole wheat bread. According to China's "General Principles for The Labeling of Prepackaged Food", the ingredient list is arranged according to the amount of raw materials added from high to low.
<h3>The light food replacement trend behind the whole grain fever</h3>
Behind the controversy over whole wheat bread is the concept of whole grains. The core of whole grains lies in the word "whole", compared to refined grains common in daily life, whole grains retain the endosperm, germ and bran of grains, and the relative proportions are the same as complete grains.
In 2001, as concerns about rising obesity rates intensified, dietitians and nutritionists began looking for ways to improve American diets. Since then, numerous studies at home and abroad have shown that eating whole grains is good for health. Whole grains have a large amount of dietary fiber, trace elements, minerals, and have a good effect on diabetes and cardiovascular disease prevention.
The Dietary Guidelines for U.S. Residents (2020-2025), released on November 29, 2020 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services, state that healthy eating patterns encourage whole grain intake, limit refined grains and their products, and recommend that half of the daily intake of grains be whole grains. Australian dietary guidelines recommend that adults consume 120-180 grams of cereals per day, most of which should be whole grains.
As far as the domestic market is concerned, in the wave of light food replacements set off in recent years, whole grain products with low calories, strong satiety and convenience stand out.
It can be found that pastoralism, future 7, seven years and five seasons, Xinhe Weida and other brands that focus on whole grain products have been established in the last four years. According to Euromonitor International, it is estimated that by 2022, the size of China's light food market will reach 120 billion yuan, with an annual growth rate of more than 50%.
The pastoralist product line covers all categories of healthy meal replacements. (Southern Weekend reporter Song Bingchen/photo)
Ruan Quang Feng, director of the Science and Technology Communication Department of the Food and Health Information Exchange Center of Kexin, believes that it is not so much the whole grain concept fever as it is the gradual rise, "mainly due to lack of cognition". According to a special survey on the State of Whole Grain Cognition (2021) conducted by his center, although most consumers believe that whole grains are more nutritious and healthier than refined grains, only 24.6% of consumers can say what whole grains are.
According to the report "Scientific Consensus on Whole Grains and Health (2021)" released by the Science and Health Information Exchange Center of Kexin Food and Health information exchange center and 8 professional institutions such as the Institute of Nutrition and Health of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, although 78% of consumers believe that they have an understanding of whole grains and should eat whole grains every day, less than 10% of consumers can eat whole grains every day, and consumers have not achieved "the integration of knowledge and action".
<h3>What is Whole Grain Food? </h3>
Liu Yao had seen some methods of distinguishing whole wheat bread on the Internet, but gave up because it was too complicated, and finally "directly bought the brand recommended by the weight loss blogger".
Consumer choice difficulties are related to the lack of standards for whole grains. According to CCTV reported in September 2020, there is a phenomenon of using various additives to blend colors in the market, acting as a whole wheat bread seller, and misleading consumers, and industry insiders called for the introduction of standards as soon as possible to regulate the market.
In fact, many countries have introduced whole grain food standards.
In the Netherlands, whole grain bread must use 100% whole grain flour, while Germany needs to contain at least 90% whole grain ingredients. Although not explicitly required in France, biscuit products with whole grains accounting for 15%-39% of the total weight of the product can be called "whole grain sources", reaching 40% can be called "whole grain rich sources". Currently, the EU has not yet developed a specification for the definition of whole grain food.
The U.S. requires at least 51 percent of whole grains in food by weight to be called whole grain foods. The U.S. Whole Grain Commission introduced the whole grain logo, the "Whole Grain Stamps." Depending on the proportion of whole grains in food, this stamp is divided into three grades: basic label, 50%+ logo, and 100%+ logo. The total number of products approved to use this mark has exceeded 13,000 species, distributed in 63 countries, of which the United States is the largest, accounting for 73%, and some food packaging sold in China is also printed with "whole grain stamps".
Ruan Quang Feng said that the formulation of whole grain and whole grain food related standards is mainly two directions, one is to clarify the proportion of whole grain, and the other is to have a clearer logo.
The group standard "General Rules for the Determination and Labeling of Whole Grains and Whole Grain Foods" formulated by the Chinese Nutrition Society will be implemented from July 1, 2021. This standard is similar to the U.S. standard: it states that the quality of whole grain raw materials is not less than 51% of the total mass of food (in dry basis) can be called "whole grain food"; if this figure is 25%, it is called "whole grain containing food".
According to the national certification and accreditation information public service platform, 4 enterprises have carried out the certification of whole grain food. The Global Green Alliance (Beijing) Food Safety Certification Center is one of them, on July 1 this year, the Global Green Alliance launched the whole grain food certification and the whole grain food mark, which did not take the grading method, but the proportion of whole grains was "as much as you write", and the label was marked with "whole grain content XX%". He Shaoqun, director of the center, revealed that Pastoralism has now submitted an application for certification to it, and the center is accepting it.
"At present, there are about 10 brands in the process of acceptance, but none of them have been officially issued." He Shaoqun introduced that there are two minimum standards for applying for certification, the first of the ingredient list must be whole grains, and the proportion of whole grains in food must be greater than 27%. After the certification is issued, the Global Green Alliance conducts annual audit supervision and cancels the certification if the inspection is not qualified.
Compared with group standards, the formulation of industry standards with more industry influence has also been put on the agenda. The National Food and Material Reserve Administration's "Terminology of Whole Grains and Whole Grain Foods" Food industry standard is in the consultation stage of the expert group, which defines terms such as whole grain, whole grain food, whole grain content, etc.
Qiu Ju, an associate researcher at the Institute of Food and Nutrition Development of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said that the standard is expected to be officially released in 2022. "The formulation of the standard refers to some international standards, but also combines China's national conditions."
Before the industry standard was introduced, the best way to buy a truly whole grain food was to look at the food ingredient list and the nutrition facts list. (Visual China/Photo)
<h3>Enhance your taste and buy real whole grains</h3>
When it comes to whole grains, Liu Yao's first feeling is that it is unpalatable, and she has also eaten some good-tasting whole-wheat bread, but then she found that a lot of sugar was added to the ingredient list, which was contrary to the goal of slimming down and pursuing health, and then gave up.
She is not the only one who feels that whole grains are unpalatable, and the Scientific Consensus on Whole Grains and Health (2021) shows that poor taste and cooking troubles are the main reasons that hinder consumers from buying whole grains.
Qiu Ju had lived abroad for a while, and she found that foreign breakfast whole grains accounted for a high proportion, but it was hard and sour for Chinese. In order to reflect the nutritional value of whole grains and take into account the higher taste requirements of Chinese, there are fewer types of foods with 100% whole grain raw materials, and 100% whole grain foods that have not been improved by the process are generally less accepted by consumers.
Yangufang, which specializes in whole grain oatmeal biscuits, told Southern Weekend that the oatmeal biscuits they produced chose to make 30% whole grains "for shaping and flavoring."
Nguyen Quang Feng believes that this matter has fallen into a vicious circle - the food industry has made new whole grain products, due to poor taste, ordinary people feel that it is not delicious and are unwilling to buy. Poor sales, enterprises lack the power of production research and development innovation.
The rough taste of oxidized haup and high fiber content is the culprit for the unpalatable whole grains. Qiu Ju explained that because the whole grain retains the germ and bran, its high oil content, easy to produce bad flavor such as ha defeat, so the whole grain food is opened, everyone will smell sour, astringent taste, in addition, the higher content of dietary fiber and crude fiber will also make everyone eat it with a "throat" feeling because it is not easy to grind it very fine.
At present, food processing companies are also making technological improvements to improve the taste of whole grain foods. However, The types of whole grains in China are very rich, including nearly 20 kinds of rice, wheat, corn, barley, sorghum, etc., but foreign countries usually focus on wheat, rye, and oats. "Like the fatty acid value of an important indicator that reflects the oxidation of oils and fats, for wheat and oats, there are better solutions in China to control the increase in fatty acid values, but coix kernels and barley are not perfect enough and are still exploring." Qiu Ju believes that if you blindly copy foreign technology, it is difficult to solve local problems.
Before the industry standard was introduced, the best way to buy a truly whole grain food was to look at the food ingredient list and the nutrition facts list. Whole grains should be ranked first in the food ingredient list, while the content of dietary fiber in the nutrition facts list reaches about 6 grams per 100 grams. He Shaoqun introduced that after the issuance of the certification mark of the Global Green Alliance, products can also be selected according to the certification mark.
Ruan Guangfeng said that on the one hand, enterprises should increase research and development to achieve a better balance in taste and nutrition. On the other hand, it is necessary to strengthen public education, so that the public recognizes the health benefits of whole grains, and can take the initiative to change their eating habits, change the habit of liking fine white and soft rice noodles, and take the initiative to eat whole grains.
(Liu Yao is a pseudonym)
Southern Weekend reporter Song Bingchen Southern Weekend intern Zhang Jinna Han Ningyu Yi Yongyan