The wheat kernel has 3 parts:

the germ (contains oil, vitamins)
the endosperm (the part white flour is made from, has the gluten)
the bran (has the fiber, makes a denser loaf).


Depending on your diet and what constitutes good nutrition for you, you
want flour made from one, the other, some, or all of the 3 parts. Whole
wheat flour should mean flour made from all 3, and many consumers want
bread made from whole wheat flour-- or rather, they think they want
that. Then they discover that whole wheat bread is denser, chewier, not
as light as the white bread they're used to. There are consumers who
want to think they're eating whole wheat bread for the nutritional
advantage when they simultaneously want a loaf that's exactly like the
white bread they prefer.


This provides a rich environment for advertisers to take advantage of
the situation. By advertising "wheat bread," they can be telling the
literal truth. The bread is made from wheat flour (as opposed to rye or
corn or oat or any number of other grains or substances that can be
ground into flour). But the bread is not made from the whole wheat
kernel (or has only a little whole wheat flour in it). The word "wheat"
conjures up the picture of "whole wheat" in the consumer's mind.


Paydirt! The consumers get the light loaf they prefer to eat while
getting the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with eating health food.
Meanwhile, white flour is cheaper by far so the bakery (or Subway or
similar company) saves money. I don't know the specific buns you're
talking about at Subway, but I have seen bread that was made with
processed refined white flour plus coloring to turn it brown. That's
cheaper than using whole wheat flour in the first place.


I should stress that white flour is not necessarily a bad or inferior
product. This is one of those situations where the best bread for you
depends on what you like and your specific nutritional needs.


--Lia


Will wrote:
> Seems like I heard that most "wheat bread" at the store has processed the
> "good stuff" out of it, meaning the good stuff out of whole grain, but I'm not sure of
> this. I'm trying to eat more whole grains and want to understand this better.
>
> 1 - Can anyone educate me on this subject?
>
> 2 - Also, anybody know if the wheat bread buns at Subway has the good stuff
> in them, meaning all the value of whole grain or whatever?
>
> Thanks for the help - Will
>
>