‘Nutrition first’ in bread study

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33671, 22 October 1974, Page 14

‘Nutrition first’ in bread study

When discussing the relative merits of wholemeal bread and white bread, the important point is not whether one has more fibre or vitamins than the other, but rather how significant the differences are for human nutrition, according to Mr R. W. Cawley, director of the Wheat Research Institute.

Mr Cawley stands by his recent contention that white bread is the nutritional equal of wholemeal. Mr Cawley was reported as saying that tests showed that white bread was just as good for people as wholemeal bread, with both types having about the same amounts of calories, protein, iron and calcium which provide the necessary body-building and health-giving proteins. Wholemeal bread had more B vitamins, but this was not important because New Zealanders got a plentiful supply from other foods, he said. Correspondents to “The Press” wrote disagreeing with Mr Cawley, with one saying that there were benefits to be gained from the

fibre content of wholemeal bread and quoting Mr Denis Burkitt, a British surgeon, who attributed diseases such as appendicitis, bowel cancer, gallstones, varicose veins and deep thrombosis to a lack of fibre. Mr Cawley replied that the most comprehensive work yet carried out on the subject, the “German Orphanage” experiment, failed to show any difference between white and wholemeal bread, although bread was a major item of the diet. The work involved a large number of children and extended over 12 months. All the children grew well, and no differences could be discerned between groups fed white and wholemeal bread. The white bread was made from 70 per cent extraction flour, much “whiter” than the 78 per cent standard in New Zealand. “It is possible that fibre may prove to be as important as Mr Burkitt claims, but this has not yet been proven. There is no evidence that the New Zealand diet lacks sufficient vitamins,” said Mr Cawley. “Naturally, I have no wish to dissuade those who prefer wholemeal bread from eating it; rather to reassure those who prefer white bread.”