Wholemeal Bread - Tried and Tasted

The WLR tasting team decided to go back to basics with this month’s Tried and Tasted. Given that bread is a part of everyday life and there are countless ranges on offer all with their own health claims, we decided it couldn’t be ignored any longer.

The aim: to separate the flour from the fiction and select what we considered a healthy, tasty slice to fit in with your daily calorie quota.

We want to encourage a switch from white bread to the brown varieties on offer. Wholemeal bread contains more nutrients and fibre than the processed, ‘white’ varieties and so will help to fill you up.

The products on trial showed us to keep an eye on the calories per slice and the actual size of the slices; some were noticeably bite sized.

Product	Warburtons, Wholemeal Healthy Choice	Nimble, Wholemeal	Waitrose, Stoneground Wholemeal
Ranking	1	2	3
Taste/ Texture	Attractive slices which gave the impression of being homemade. Good square size which was filling, good texture and tasty. The calories per slice gave cause for concern but overall the team felt the calories were worth it.	A very small slice (half the size of the Warburtons product) but what it lost in size it made up for with taste, texture and smell. We liked this one!	A springy slice which you could get your teeth into if you could ignore the very orange glow…looked artificial.
Calories (kcal) per slice	98 (per 46.1g slice)	48 (per 22g slice)	70 (per 40g slice)
Fibre (g) per slice	3.2	1.5	2.6

Product	Weight Watchers, Malted Danish	Hovis, Original Wheatgerm	COU, M&S, Malted Grain
Ranking	4	5	5
Taste/ Texture	Very small slices which was off putting. A chewy slice which made it feel filling and yet a soft bite which made it easy to digest.	These slices didn’t have much to hold them together and tore really easily! Very soft and not much bulk!	COU know their stuff. These slices looked homemade with the seeds making it look a healthy choice. Good crust on the slice and a chewable texture! Filling  - which always goes down well with the team.
Calories (kcal) per slice	49 (per 20.4g slice)	70 (per 33g slice)	55 (per 24g slice)
Fibre (g) per slice	0.8	1.7	1.4

Product	Sainsburys, Wholemeal
Ranking	4
Taste/ Texture	Comments on the colour were not positive – the slices look unnatural. It didn’t get much better with comments on how sticky and congealed the bread actually tasted…not a good choice for us!
Calories (kcal) per slice	77 (per 40g slice)
Fat (g) per slice	3.1

Some diverse comments and some products that didn’t encourage a switch from white bread. Sainsbury’s and Waitrose made hard work of eating wholemeal bread and gave the impression of being artificial. Warburtons and COU were a delight giving the look of a rustic, homemade bread and tasting healthy and filling. Less calories with the COU product but a smaller size which might not be as filling!

Go for brown breads, keep an eye on calories and enjoy a healthier everyday choice.

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