Established nutritional guidelines emphasize that eating whole-grain foods is good for your health. A 2004 study reported in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition” confirmed that people whose diets are high in whole grains face a 20 to 30 percent lower risk of coronary heart disease. More than 95 percent of Americans ignore government advice, eating only 15 percent of the recommended amount of whole grains, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The Whole Grain Stamp, launched in 2005, appears on food packaging and carries details of whole grain content.
Step 1
Check the bread packaging for a Whole Grain Stamp. This is a graphic that features "a stylized sheaf of grain on a golden-yellow background with a bold black border." Note the minimum number of grams of whole grain per serving given on the stamp. If there is no Whole Grain Stamp, the whole-grain content may be shown with other nutritional information.
Step 2
Read the Nutrition Facts label on the packaging and note the serving size in grams. If the serving size is shown in ounces, multiply by 28.35 to convert to grams.
Step 3
Check the label for the number of grams of whole grain per serving if you did not find a Whole Grain Stamp. If the packaging does not show the number of grams of whole grain per serving, either on a Whole Grain Stamp, on the Nutrition Facts label or elsewhere, you will not be able to calculate the percentage of whole grain in the bread.
Step 4
Divide the number of grams of whole grain per serving by the serving size in grams. Multiply the answer by 100 and note the result, which is the minimum percentage of whole grain in the bread.
Step 5
Check your work. For example, if the bread contains 23 grams or more of whole grain per serving and one serving is a one-ounce slice, the serving size is 28.35 grams and the minimum percentage of whole grain is 81.1 percent.
Tips and Warnings
- If the packaging does not show the whole grain content per serving, you may be able to find this information on the manufacturer’s website.
- Bread that does not contain at least 8 grams of whole-grain ingredients per serving cannot claim to be “whole-grain bread.” If you can’t find the whole grain content from the packaging, do not count the bread towards your whole-grain consumption.
Things You'll Need
- Bread packaging
- Calculator
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