Dark bread = whole grain bread?

Spread the love

Read Time:1 Minute, 34 Second

It is still often claimed that dark bread is baked from whole grains. Many consumers think they have purchased healthy whole-grain bread by buying dark bread. However, this impression is not always accurate. Because there are other ways than using whole grain to give the loaf a more muscular appearance. Even the addition of malt products is sufficient for obtaining a darker colour.

The degree of milling of the flour used is decisive for evaluating the whole grain content of a loaf of bread. Thus, there are different types of flour, which differ in their range of minerals and colour: The lower the flour type, the more the original grain was milled out and the lower the natural content of minerals in the flour.
Example: The most commonly used “white” flour is type 405, which contains 405 milligrams of minerals per 100 grams of wheat flour. Type 1600, on the other hand, is less heavily milled and includes 1600 milligrams of minerals per 100 grams.

So if you want pure wholemeal bread, you should ensure that wholemeal flour has been processed. This is because it contains 100% of the whole grain’s natural components. Wholemeal bread thus gets its darker colour from the entire grain used. Depending on the type of grain, there are still slight differences here, as rye flour naturally gives off a darker colour than wheat flour.

Whole grain bread is characterized by its higher dietary fibre and protein content. Above all, it offers more vitamins – especially those of the vitamin B group – as well as more calcium and iron. Because of this crucial difference from the most commonly consumed types of bread, such as mixed wheat and rye bread, as well as wheat and rye bread, nutritionists recommend resorting to the more balanced whole-grain bread whenever possible.