Wholegrain consumption is encouraged globally based on dietary guidelines. However, despite numerous health benefits and recommendations, wholegrain intake remains low.

To improve wholegrain intake, various strategies – including wholegrain content labelling of foods – have been implemented to better promote their consumption.

However, regulations around wholegrain content labelling and wholegrain foods are not enforced given the Food Standards Code does not consider wholegrain as a nutrient.

Therefore, when properties of foods are not covered under the standards, food manufacturers can make various statements about properties in the food, which is problematic as it leads to inconsistent and misleading messages to consumers.

A recent study revealed that consumers lacked understanding of wholegrain foods. Specifically, there was confusion and uncertainty around what defines wholegrain foods and how to identify them.

Consumer recognition

Consumers relied on visuals on packets and images of grains to identify wholegrain foods at the supermarket, chose products or brands that they were familiar with and were strongly guided by known metrics of food quality such as the Health Star Rating.

There was also scepticism of grain food labelling, particularly around wholegrain content claims and the marketing of products as healthy. Consumers expressed a strong preference towards the use of wholegrain within the name of the food as opposed to a separate wholegrain content claim.

The food industry generally accepts the wholegrain food definition by the Wholegrain Initiative (WGI) as it is clear, appropriate, and makes sense to encourage greater wholegrain intake.

Industry sees that adopting this definition could provide confidence to the food industry for product development and guidance, as well as clarity to consumers – which would lead to increased consumer confidence.

It is hoped that the adoption and application of consistent wholegrain food definitions in the food industry and public health settings will establish clear guidelines across the food industry for formulation and labelling of products, assist consumers in identifying and making higher and healthier wholegrain food choices, and ensure consistent messaging and promotion of wholegrains.