Wheat watchers

Drug Store News,  Oct 10, 2005  

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General Mills took the healthy lead in the cereal aisle by changing all of its cereal formulations to contain whole-grain construction.

But the whole-grain trend is moving deeper through drug stores' consumables offerings. It seems anything that can be switched to whole-grain formulation now is, which may well be a concerted effort on the part of food makers to help Americans maintain better general health--whole grains are less processed and contain more of their naturally occurring nutrients, such as vitamins E and B, folic acid and iron.

And consumers are eating it up. Sales for whole grain foods are trending up between the low double digits to well over the triple digits, according to ACNielsen data. In comparison, whole grain foods grew less than 1 percent between 2000 and 2004.

And that also goes for snacks. Enter Nabisco-branded Chips Ahoy!, Fig Newtons and Wheat Thins. The cookies and crackers now are baked with 100 percent whole grains, and they have zero grams of trans fats--another big push on the part of the food industry to contribute positively toward Americans' better health.

And, on the meal-related shelves, Kraft Foods is launching Supermac & Cheese pasta and sauce. The product is a remake of the original, but features whole grains and added vitamins B1, C, D and E.

Supermac & Cheese pasta and sauce is shaped like SpongeBob SquarePants, Spider-Man, Fairly Odd Parents and regular elbow varieties. When prepared using the suggested preparation instructions, Supermac products meet Kraft's Sensible Solution nutrition criteria that identify better-for-you choices across its portfolio.

Pepperidge Farm, which proclaims long-held ties to nutritious food, is launching a whole-grain line of bread that spans a variety of the brand's offerings. Among them are sandwich breads, such as Soft Honey Oat and Soft Honey Whole Wheat; bagels, such as Whole Wheat Bagels and Whole Wheat Mini Bagels; and English muffins in the form of Whole Wheat English Muffins and 7-Grain English Muffins.

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