White whole wheat flour

Using new milling technology, ConAgra Food Ingredients (USA) has introduced Ultragrain White whole-wheat flour, a product the company describes as a 'revolutionary whole grain flour'.

Milled from white wheat rather than red wheat, Ultragrain, with 100% whole-wheat flour, offers the sweet taste and smooth texture associated with refined flour products, ConAgra Foods said. The company said it used special flour milling equipment and patent-pending milling technology to mill Ultragrain.

"Ultragrain provides the food industry and its customers with the first whole-grain flour that combines preferred taste and texture with nutrition," said Greg Heckman, president and chief operating officer, ConAgra Food Ingredients.

In addition to offering a lighter colour than most whole-grain flours, Ultragrain has a softer, smoother texture with reduced visibility of bran specks, compared with other whole-wheat flours, ConAgra Foods said. ConAgra Food noted that only 7% of Americans consume three servings of whole grains daily. The US Department of Agriculture for many years has urged consumers to increase whole grains intake, and USDA has suggested it may incorporate an even greater emphasis on whole grains into the 2005 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Heckman said Ultragrain was suited to a wide range of products, including bread, bagels, pasta, pizza dough and pastries. Whole white wheat baked products have been on the market for several years but have not significant displaced demand for enriched grains. While the products have eliminated the bitter taste associated with whole-wheat flour milled from hard red winter wheat, the texture of the white whole-wheat products does not perfectly match that in products baked from enriched white flour.