Keeping the Word of Wisdom: The Truth about Commercial Wheat Products

A key principle of Section 86 of the Doctrine and Covenants is that grain is the staff of life, and wheat, particularly, is for the use of man [human beings]. However, commercially produced wheat products are a poor representation of the nutritious grain God created. Let’s look at a few reasons why this is true.

Commercially produced wheat flour is milled on rollers which separate the bran and germ from the starchy endosperm.  For white flour, only the endosperm is used.  Read my previous articles  for a summary of the health hazards of eating refined white flour baked goods. Then consider this additional hazard to your health: White flour is almost always bleached by chemicals such as benzoyl peroxide, nitrogen dioxide, chlorine gas—or even worse— azodicarbonamide or potassium bromate. White flour is bleached to speed up the softening and whitening process  which occurs naturally in about twelve weeks. It takes only forty-eight hours if bleaching chemicals are used.

The North American Millers’ Association (NAMA) says this: “In the bleaching process, flour is exposed to chlorine gas or benzoyl peroxide to whiten and brighten flour color. The bleaching agents react and do not leave harmful residues or destroy nutrients. In soft wheat products chlorine gas is also used to control cookie diameter and cake height.” (1)  Because these bleaching agents are purported to leave no residue, they are not required to be listed on the labels.  In spite of NAMA’s insistence of their safety, the chemicals listed above are all banned in Europe and other parts of the world. 

“That’s okay,” you say. “I’ll just buy whole wheat flour.”  While that is a big step in the right direction and will avoid exposure to bleaching chemicals, commercial whole wheat flour is not what you think it is. Most consumers assume that whole wheat flour contains ground up whole kernels of wheat.

Unfortunately, this is not true of commercially milled whole wheat flour (and subsequently not true for commercial whole wheat baked goods).  Commercial whole wheat flour (even if it says “100% whole wheat) is NOT 100% of the wheat kernel. Commercial roller mills ALWAYS separate the endosperm from the germ and bran. To make “whole wheat flour,” some bran and some germ are added back into the white (endosperm only) flour. The healthy oils of the germ are usually not added back in, since they go rancid rapidly and would greatly reduce the shelf life of the flour. So with commercial whole wheat flour and baked goods, you are still missing out on a significant portion of the nutrition that God packed into wheat.

It gets worse!  Previously, I have recommended that if one cannot grind their own fresh flour, then one should try to purchase stone ground whole wheat flour. Whole wheat flour that is ground at old-fashioned stone burr mills is actually whole wheat. Nothing is taken out or added back in. Unless you have a stone burr mill in your neighborhood, the stone ground flour will not be as fresh and nutritious as home-milled flour, but at least it is the real thing.

However, while researching online, I came across disturbing information. Dated back in 2006, an article from USA Today titled “The hard truth about stone-ground flour”(2) said that “for many big companies, stone-ground is just a marketing phrase.”  A spokes-person for General Mills was quoted as saying the label “stone ground” on their Gold Medal flour simply means that the “flour products have passed through an actual stone mill at least once.” In other words, companies may deceptively “pass” their grain “through” a stone mill and then mill the flour on commercial roller mills as I have described above and still legally label it “stone ground.”

It turns out that there are NO federal requirements on the use of the term stone-ground on food labels. None.  The owners of Hodgson Mills—an actual stone burr mill which produces flour that is truly stone ground—found this to be outrageous (and I do, too)!  In 2001, they filed a petition with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to establish a standard of identity for the term “stone ground” as applied to wheat flour. In 2002, the FDA denied their petition saying Hodgson Mills “did not provide any data to show what consumers understand the term ‘stone ground’ to mean and to show that consumers are buying a product labeled ‘stone ground’ that differs from their expectations.” (3)

So when you reach for that brand name loaf of 100% stone ground whole wheat bread, there is NO assurance that it is really made with stone ground whole wheat flour instead of commercially milled counterfeit whole wheat flour (in spite of a picture of a mill on the label). The same goes for that box of crackers that says “Made with stone ground wheat” on the front, and for the bag of flour labeled “Stone ground whole wheat.” The “evils and designs” which God warned us would “exist in the hearts of conspiring men”  are very real (D&C 86:1a).

If you must buy flour, I now recommend purchasing it only from reliable sources which operate a legitimate stone burr (or other non-roller type)  mill. Two of which I know are Bob’s Red Mill and Hodgson Mill. If you must buy bread or baked goods, look for ones sold in natural foods stores which are produced by smaller companies (not the giant conglomerates). Look for the 100% whole grain label and a minimum of ingredients. (I hope to discuss commercial bread additives and ingredients in a future article.)

KoMo Fidibus 21

Of course, a MUCH better option would be to invest in your own grain mill!  I believe this should be a priority for most families. God said grain is the staff of life, and the best way to receive all the goodness of grain is to mill fresh flour in your own kitchen and bake with it immediately! The nutritional superiority of fresh ground flour over store-bought whole grain flour is vast. Even if you never bake a loaf of yeast bread, it is worth the investment of a kitchen mill to grind flour for pancakes, muffins, waffles, and other quick breads. Maybe you could even find a friend who would bake bread for you in exchange for milling fresh flour.

NutriMill

When considering the purchase of a mill, the first question many people ask is whether they should buy a manual or electric mill. I recommend that you buy an electric mill. Manual mills are fine for emergency back up, but grind much slower and take a considerable physical effort, making them impractical for regular use.

So which electric mill is best? From my research, I recommend three brands, and I am confident that any one of them would be a satisfactory investment:  NutriMill, Wonder Mill, and KoMo Mills.

	NutriMill	Wonder Mill	KoMo Mills
Price as of May 2015	$240	$220	$400 and up
Grinding method	Stainless steel impact heads	Stainless steel impact heads	Corundum-ceramic burrs
What will it grind?	All dried grains, including small grains such as quinoa and amaranth.               Dried legumes.	All dried grains, including small grains such as quinoa and amaranth. Dehydrated sprouted grain. Dried legumes. Some spices.	All dried grains, including small grains such as quinoa and amaranth (but popcorn in not recommended) Dried legumes Spices. **Has interchangeable insert system to avoid cross-contamination**
What will it not grind?	Not suitable for herbs, spices, nuts, oily seeds like flax, fibrous materials, or dried sprouted grains or seeds.	Not suitable for nuts, oily seeds and some spices.	Not suitable for herbs, oily seeds like flax, popcorn, or fibrous materials.
Grinding adjustments	Fine flour to coarse meal	Fine flour to coarse meal	Fine flour to coarse meal, cracked grain

Wonder Mill

Here are several online stores I  recommend which sell grain mills:
Pleasant Hill Grain  pleasanthillgrain.com 
The Urban Homemaker urbanhomemaker.com The Bread Beckers  breadbeckers.com

The Bread Becker’s site also has a wealth of information in their blog articles and instructional video library.I grind with a Whisper Mill. I have been totally happy with its trouble-free performance under steady use for the eight or nine years I have owned it. Although Whisper Mills are no longer available, the Wonder Mill is manufactured in the same plant and said to be a nearly identical product with some upgrades, such as a more powerful motor with more air flow.

After reading many reviews and comments, I do not recommend buying a grain mill attachment for a Kitchen Aid. Many say that grinding grain will burn out the Kitchen Aid gears in a short time.

After you have invested in a grain mill, you might also consider a grain flaker (sometimes called a roller). I have the Marga Mulino Flaker. It is hand cranked, but quick and easy to use. Pour the oat groats in the top and crank away for the freshest, tastiest, most nutritious oatmeal ever! Other grain flakers that get good reviews are the KoMo Flocino or KoMo FlicFloc.

We need to take the Word of Wisdom seriously! It is God’s Word for our temporal salvation!

1. North American Millers’ Association 
http://www.namamillers.org/education/wheat-milling-process/

2.  "The hard truth about stone-ground flour"  by Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-03-13-stone-ground-flour_x.htm


3. FDA reply to Hodgson Mills’ petition
http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dailys/02/Jul02/070902/80016bd4.pdf