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Whole grain index: Added value for manufacturers and consumers

GoodMills Innovation combines consumer convenience and innovative marketing strategies to support a wholesome and tasty diet. The company introduces a new “whole grain index” seal that reveals the whole grain content of baked products at first sight. To promote the novel seal, the company will highlight grain-based nutritional products at this year’s HiE: GoodMills Innovation will showcase a whole wheat concentrate as well as microgranules derived from whole ancient spelt. Both products help manufacturers to produce baked goods that are both light-coloured and wholesome.

According to a recent study published in the British Medical Journal, even small amounts of whole grain have been shown to have a positive impact on human health. With its new whole grain index, GoodMills Innovation enables the consumers to see at a glance the percentage of whole grain in the product – making it simple for consumers to choose healthy and tasty products and enhancing sales opportunities for manufacturers.

The new seal is convenient to use by both industrial and artisan bakeries. In the near future, an online calculator will be available to determine the whole grain level of a product based on its recipe. The resulting seal can then be downloaded as a graphic file free of charge. Offering special features, GoodMills Innovation customers will have access to a premium version of the calculator.

Michael Gusko, Managing Director of GoodMills Innovation, says: “We intend to make the market more transparent and simplify consumer choice when it comes to wholesome products. In particular, we want to support the sale of whole grain products that seem not to be healthful at first sight, including baked goods made with light-coloured flours that provide the same nutritional value as whole grain products.”

Consumers often perceive dark-coloured baked goods to be wholesome and light-coloured white breads to be less so. The whole grain index will dispel this myth. A number of light-coloured flours can be used to make equally wholesome baked goods. Other flour-based goods can also benefit from the seal because with the whole grain content displayed prominently as front of pack information, products will gain a “better for you” appeal.

Accordingly, the company offers two novel whole grain specialties: WHITE GOLD® and SNOW SPELT. Owing to a proprietary fermentation process with subsequent micro-milling and stabilisation, WHITE GOLD®, the concentrate from specific flavourful wheat varieties provides all the benefits of whole grain. Baked goods with WHITE GOLD® stand out with their light colour, a soft texture, a fine, balanced taste and a slightly sour note.

The whole grain microgranules marketed as SNOW SPELT are based on selected ancient spelt varieties. Produced in a multistage process and combined with standard flours it yields a very fine and, from a sensory viewpoint, mild and sweetish whole spelt flour. Compared with other whole spelt flours, SNOW SPELT offers additional baking performance in terms of expanded volume, a finer crumb and the absence of coarse bran particles that are unappealing to the majority of consumers.

About GoodMills Innovation GmbH
GoodMills Innovation GmbH has its headquarters in Hamburg, Germany, and is a joint venture between Europe’s leading milling enterprise, the GoodMills Group, and the global ingredients manufacturer Palsgaard A/S, which is based in Denmark. Together with its Polish subsidiary GoodMills Innovation Polska Sp z o.o, the company employs a staff of 120 in Europe.

Sound grain expertise and state-of-the-art refining technologies are the foundations of the company, which operates worldwide. Innovative and natural products that combine functionality and taste and which also contribute to better health have been developed in close cooperation with experts from research and industry. Customers from the food industry and the bakery trade benefit from tailor-made products as well as from competent advice on application, food legislation and marketing issues.