Complex Numbers

Knead Some Dough?

Jumping back into food today, courtesy of the BBC...

    Scientists work to make healthier white bread  

Didn't they try to make "healthier white bread" some decades ago? By removing pretty much everything healthy about bread and fortifying the bland, spongy result with "vitamins and minerals?"

I'll grant we know more now. Just saying, sometimes technology gets ahead of itself.

Scientists are trying to create a new type of bread that is just as healthy as wholemeal but looks and tastes like its white counterpart.

Like I said, the article's from the UK, so there may be some phrases lost in translation. Though it's easy enough to figure out what they mean by "wholemeal."

Aimed at lovers of white bread, the project has been funded by the government to improve the health benefits of UK food.

Resisting the temptation to make a lame joke about British food. Instead, I'll just say, "Yeah, good luck on that with Scotland."

The researchers plan to add small amounts of peas, beans and cereals to the bread mix, as well as bran and wheat germ that are normally removed from white flour.

So, take out the bran and wheat germ, and then put them back in?

Another potential for lost in translation: "cereal" can refer to any grain, such as maize (UK for corn), barley (US for corn), rye, spelt... and wheat, which is what gives me pause because isn't the wheat already there?

Dr Catherine Howarth of Aberystwyth University, who is one of its leaders, said scientists had begun to analyse the detailed chemical composition of existing white flour.

It only occurred to me yesterday that some people act like gluten is some sort of food additive, like the TBHQ from the Pop-Tarts entry a few days ago. Which it isn't. It's a naturally-occurring protein in many grains, including wheat.

Of course "natural" doesn't necessarily mean "good," but in this case, my point is that there are no evil corporations going, "I know! Let's save money by throwing in gluten."

It involved adding back smaller quantities of the wheat germ and part of the bran that is taken out in the milling process, she said, as well as adding other grains that are richer in vitamins, minerals and fibre such as quinoa, teff, sorghum and millet.

Today's new word: teff. I'd never heard of it. Turns out it's from East Africa  , and it's a grass seed. Before that freaks anyone out, remember that maize is also technically a grass.

"Using other cereals we can enhance the iron, zinc and vitamin levels and most importantly the fibre content, because white bread has very little fibre, which is so important for good health."

So, Wonder Bread with fiber (look, I'm using US spelling in my commentary, because it's what I'm used to) re-inserted.

I concluded long ago that this quintessential American mass-produced white bread is called that because you have to Wonder what's actually in it.

“Most people know that wholemeal bread is better for you, but a lot of them are put off by the flavour, or because it’s not what they are used to and they are simply not interested,” he said of the challenge.

I've pointed out before that, to me, bread is food; everything else is a condiment. But just like I'm a snob about wine, beer, cheese, and other products of fermentation and/or distillation, I'm also a snob about bread. I like whole wheat bread just fine; I think the flavor usually has more depth. But one thing I can't deal with: whole wheat baguettes. No one's been able to match the deliciousness and texture of a real baguette by using whole grains.

Mr Holister used me as a guinea pig for an early prototype made from a mixture of normal white flour and some added grains and peas.

It was crustier than the white loaves you get from the supermarket - but otherwise looked and tasted like white bread. But there is a lot more work to be done.

To me, "crustier" is a good thing. The brown strip on the edge of your ordinary white bread hardly qualifies as "crust."

White bread has to have minerals and vitamins added to it by law to make up for the goodness that's lost in the refining process.

Pretty sure that's the case in the US, too.

"Critics would say that it is tricking people into improving their diet, but nutritionists would say it doesn’t matter how it’s done - it’s important to get it down people’s throats to improve their health!

"But the jury's out as to whether this new approach will work,” he added.

This critic doesn't say it's tricking people into improving their diet. The only "trick" would be if it wasn't labeled appropriately. No, my concern is that food is meant to be enjoyed, not to be used as medicine.

Still, even the attempt could yield good science, and I can't rail against that.