VALUE OF WHITE BREAD

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21445, 10 April 1935, Page 10

VALUE OF WHITE BREAD

DENTIST'S STATEMENT CHALLENGED WHEAT RESEARCH WOlUv A denial that the Wheat Research Institute worked solely in the interests of the miller was made yesterday by a miller who is a member of the institute, in a reply to the assertions of a Christchurch member of the New Zealand Dental Association, printed in "The Press" on Monday. The dentist maintained that white flour had a bad effect on the teeth of people who used it.

"It is misleading to state that 'white bread is adulterated by taking out the valuable parts of the wheat.' The most valuable parts are left in white flour," said the miller. "It is misleading to state that 'the Wheat Research Institute works in the interests of the millers.' The institute works in the interests of farmers, millers, bakers, and consumers. It is misleading to state that 'the best parts of wheat are described by the Wheat Research Institute as "offal."' Ofrals is a trade term for bran and pollard, and the institute merely adopts the trade term. Best Part of Wheat "It is misleading to state that the offals arc 'the best part of the wheat.' It would be exactly as true to say that the shell is the best part of the egg. Tt is misleading to infer that the Wheat Research Institute is a propagandist for white bread as against brown. The institute's published reports contain many researches on the suitability of various wheats for brown bread or whole-meal bread, as well as many recipes for whole-meal bread, scones, etc. Some of the biggest whole-meal manufacturers in New Zealand use blends of wheats recommended by the institute. "It is untrue to say that 'the roller flour mill came into being in America when the millers had found that pure wheat flour would not keep during transport to Europe.' Everyone who knows anything about bread knows that the roller flour mill came into being in Switzerland, and that therefore the question of Atlantic transport of flour could not have been the reason for its invention. The want of truth of this statement provides a measure of the accuracy of the others. Two Faults

"There are two faults about this propaganda against white bread. First it assumes without proof that the whole of the wheat grain is suitable for food. On the same principle the shells of nuts, and even the chaff of wheat should be eaten, because these all contain greater quantities of certain substances than the interior parts do. "The second fault is that the aspect of palatability is entirely ignored. Christchurch bakers sell about 12 white loaves to one brown, and therefore one may suppose that to 12 people out of 13 white bread is the more palatable. Palatability is a prime desideratum in a food, but it is a matter\of individual taste, and so it is hardly suitable for any outside interference. The difference in nutritional value of white bread and brown is negligible when they are parts of a mixed diet, and the' Wheat Research Institute recommends neither one nor the other, but works in the interest of Tne consumers of both."