Esteban has been surprising me recently when he treks out to the grocery store on his own: instead of the disgusting squishy white breads (which I only touch if I'm sick and therefore delirious), he's been returning with Sara Lee's Whole Grain White breads, that promise that they are just like whole wheat bread, only they're passing as white. I was skeptical about the whole enterprise, because the fiber content on the nutritional label sure didn't look like whole grain anything, but he seemed excited and I was pleased that at least he was making an attempt to try pseudo-healthy foods. Except, whoops, looks like I was right to be skeptical.

It turns out that Sara Lee's Whole Grain White Bread is really just "White Bread For People Who Hate Whole Wheat Bread And Like Lying To Themselves That White Bread Is Healthy" and Sara Lee has recently been sued by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The two parties have reached a settlement and Sara Lee has agreed to disclose that the bread is really only 30 percent whole grain flour, and the rest is white flour, water and other ingredients. From the CSPI website:

Plenty of food companies try to give consumers the impression that their white-flour-based products are "made with whole grain" even if there is only a small amount. Kraft uses phrases like "good source of whole grain" or "excellent source of whole grain" on labels even if the product is mostly refined white flour. (Kraft Supermac & Cheese, for instance, is advertised as a "good source" of whole grain, even though its first ingredient is white flour.) General Mills, to its credit, according to CSPI, recently began transitioning away from those types of source claims in favor of indicating the amount of whole grains in grams.

The distinction between white flour and whole wheat flour is an important one nutritionally. When whole wheat is refined into white flour, most of the fiber and key nutrients are lost. Though some nutrients are added back in when white flour is "enriched," studies show that whole grain foods might be useful in reducing risk of heart disease and diabetes. White flour does not have anywhere near the same beneficial effects, according to nutrition experts.

I guess the moral here is that if it looks too good to be true, then it probably is. Regardless, it's up to us to be smart and only pay attention to two things on the food label: the ingredients list and the nutritional content.