what is added to enriched flour

Full Answer

What are ingredients in enriched white flour?

Refined wheat flour (all purpose): This flour contains the endosperm, with much of the bran and germ removed, and is enriched with iron, thiamine, niacin, ribloflavin and folic acid. It's also known as all-purpose flour, or white flour.

Why do they put niacin in flour?

The enrichment is required under the law because flour products, particularly bleached white flour products, lose a lot of essential vitamins and minerals during processing. The standardized flour enrichment dramatically reduces the occurrence of inadequate intake of these five nutrients.

Which nutrients are added by law to enriched flour?

What are the nutrient requirements for standardized cereal flours and other standardized bakery products that are labeled as being enriched? Standards for these enriched products require that they contain specified amounts of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, iron, and folic acid.

Why is enriched bleached flour bad for you?

0:294:18Is Enriched Bleached Flour Bad For You? - TWFL - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd only the endosperm is left leaving the grain with no valuable vitamins and minerals after theMoreAnd only the endosperm is left leaving the grain with no valuable vitamins and minerals after the wheat kernel has been removed the flour is milled into fine powder.

Is enriched wheat flour inflammatory?

The wheat grain itself, whether organic, whole grain, whole meal, or white, pretty much all has the same effect on the body. The bottom line: wheat is highly inflammatory.

What is the difference between enriched flour and all purpose flour?

Unbleached flour – plain flour without the bleaching agent added in. It can appear yellowish in color and may have a tendency to clump. Enriched flour – is flour with specific nutrients added back in. These nutrients include iron and B vitamins; calcium is sometimes also added back in.

Is vitamin B6 added to enriched grains?

Refined grain choices should be enriched. This means certain B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid) and iron are added back after processing.

Is enriched flour vegan?

So Is Enriched Unbleached Flour Vegan? Yes. While it's true that added vitamins are sometimes not plant-sourced, enriched flour generally doesn't have added animal-sourced nutrients. In short, don't sweat this one.

Why is niacin in my bread?

Fortified foods are supplemented with extra nutrients, while enriched foods have nutrients added back that had been lost during processing ( 50 ). Many breakfast cereals and refined grain products like white bread and pasta are enriched or fortified with niacin to improve their nutrient content ( 51 ).

Why do they add niacin in food?

Much like the other B vitamins, niacin helps to turn the foods you eat into energy. It also aids in DNA repair and functions as an antioxidant.

Why is niacin used in food?

Niacin is a B vitamin that's made and used by your body to turn food into energy. It helps keep your nervous system, digestive system and skin healthy. Niacin (vitamin B-3) is often part of a daily multivitamin, but most people get enough niacin from the food they eat.

Does white bread have niacin?

White bread has 50% of Vitamin B1 (Thiamine), the same level of Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) and 30% of the level of Vitamin B3 (Niacin) that is present in wholemeal bread. Although these amounts are lower than wholemeal bread, white bread is still a significant source of these vitamins.

History

White flour became adopted in many cultures because it was thought to be healthier than dark flours during the late Middle Ages. As white flour was more expensive it became a fashionable indicator of perceived social status and tended to be consumed mostly by the richer classes.

Flour processing and nutrient loss

The conversion of grains to flour involves several steps that vary with the type of grain used. The initial stages of processing remove the bran and the germ of the seed. The bran is the outermost layer of grains that contains fiber (primarily insoluble), some protein, and trace minerals.

Enrichment requirements

According to the U.S. FDA, a pound of enriched flour must have the following quantities of nutrients to qualify: 2.9 milligrams of thiamin, 1.8 milligrams of riboflavin, 24 milligrams of niacin, 0.7 milligrams of folic acid, and 20 milligrams of iron. The first four nutrients are B vitamins.

What is Flour Enrichment?

Flour enrichment is the addition of nutrients to white flour that are removed during milling. When wheat is milled, bran and germ from the wheat kernel are removed and the endosperm is processed into white flour, striping all dietary fiber, minerals, and vitamins. 1 Flour enrichment adds back the naturally occurring ones.

Origin

Flour enrichment can provide an important source of iron in the diet. In the U.S., flour enrichment was established in the 1930’s as the popularity of white flour increased. Health concerns about the rise in cases of diseases such as beriberi and pellagra led to an examination of white flour.

Function

Flour enrichment provides added minerals and vitamins to refined white flour.

Commercial production

Wheat goes through the milling process to become flour. White flour that is produced from the grounded endosperm of the wheat kernel has had all vitamins and minerals striped. After processing white flour is run through a device that measures out specified quantities of enrichment.

Application

Flour enrichment allows for greater nutritional availability to refined white flour.

FDA regulation

The FDA provides specific guidelines for flour enrichment under CFR § 137.165.5.2 Enriched flour must conform to the U.S. Standards of Identify. 5

How Enriched Flour Affects Your Health

Enriched white flour is not absorbed into the body like whole grains. When you eat refined flour, your digestive system quickly and easily breaks down and absorbs it like pure sugar. This causes your blood sugar to spike, which activates insulin, a hormone that herds all those free sugar molecules into cells, causing your blood sugar to drop.

Why Whole Grains Are Better

On the other end of the spectrum, whole grains are absorbed from the digestive tract slowly because they contain both types of fiber and a wide range of phytonutrients. The fiber and nutrients help maintain your blood sugar, help you feel full for longer, preserve your insulin sensitivity, and protect you from a slew of diet-related diseases.

Benefits of Whole Grain Flour vs. White Enriched Flour

Whole grain foods are higher in fiber because the wheat germ and bran are still included.

Alternatives to Enriched Flour

Many foods are made with flour of some type, and it’s not easy to go completely flour-free without switching to an all-produce, whole food, or raw food diet.

What is enriched flour?

Grains are composed of three parts: the germ, endosperm and bran layer. Foods made with white flour just use the starchy endosperm part of a grain. The germ and bran layer are stripped away during the processing part of making enriched flour.

Is it bad for you?

A quarter cup of enriched flour provides about 110 calories, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 3 grams of protein and is a source of B vitamins and iron. The calories from enriched flour are primarily carbohydrates that are digested and absorbed quickly which can spike blood sugar.

Alternatives

Instead of using enriched white flour, use whole grain flours instead. Choose whole grain breads or pastas that have whole grain listed as the first ingredient.

Conclusion

Enriched flour is made when the bran and germ layer are stripped away from the endosperm. The starchy, white endosperm is left to make white flour. The endosperm is void of nutrients, so part of the processing is adding nutrients that were stripped away like B vitamins and iron.

Wheat Kernel

The wheat kernel has vitamins, minerals, protein and carbohydrates. The bran contains the most vitamins and minerals, and the endosperm has fewer nutrients. The endosperm is easier to digest than the bran or germ and reduces fat that can cause rancid flour. It also provides three-quarters of the protein contained in a whole-wheat kernel.

Enriched

White flour loses more than three-quarters of its fiber, half of its calcium and phosphorus, half of its thiamine, more than three-quarters of its niacin and one-third of its vitamin E.

Fortified

Fortified bread is enriched with nutrients added back into the flour after milling. The two nutrients to look for in fortified breads are folic acid and iron. Folic acid helps prevent some birth defects and lowers the risk of heart disease and some cancers, according to the Linus Pauling Institute.

Considerations

When eating enriched bread, find other foods that add fiber into your daily diet, like fruits, vegetables or whole-grain bread. Whole-grain breads, which are made with the entire wheat kernel, provide fiber that can reduce your risk for heart disease and some types of cancer and of developing diabetes, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Overview

Enriched flour is flour with specific nutrients returned to it that have been lost while being prepared. These restored nutrients include iron and B vitamins (folic acid, riboflavin, niacin, and thiamine). Calcium may also be supplemented. The purpose of enriching flour is to replenish the nutrients in the flour to match the nutritional status of the unrefined product. This differentiates enrichment from fortification, which is the process of introducing new nutrients to a food.

History

Flour processing and nutrient loss

Enrichment requirements

See also

Origin

Function

• Flour enrichment provides added minerals and vitamins to refined white flour. Flour enrichment provides the following:4 1. Thiamin aids digestion and helps the body process fat and carbohydrates. 2. Riboflavin is an essential vitamin that aids the body in the use of protein. 3. Niacin is responsible for preventing pellagra. 4. Pellagra is a nutrien...

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Nutrition

Commercial Production

Application

FDA Regulation

References