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Food and Nutrition

Wheat

The main source of wheat in the UK diet is flour and foods made from flour such as bread, pasta and baked goods.  Other sources include semolina, bulgur (cracked) wheat, couscous and breakfast cereals.

The vitamin and mineral content of these foods will depend on the proportion of germ, bran and endosperm present. Wholegrain wheat contains useful amounts of several of the B vitamins including thiamin , riboflavin and niacin and also vitamin E.

It also contains the minerals potassium, iron, magnesium and zinc as well as trace elements such as selenium. The selenium content of wheat will depend on the amount of selenium in the soil which it is grown.

Wholegrain products are an important source of dietary fibre - 4 medium slices of wholemeal bread, for example, would provide 7.6g fibre which is 42% of the Recommended Daily Amount (RDA).

The wheat germ and the outer layers of the wheat grain are rich in vitamins and minerals so when cereals are refined and these components are removed some of the vitamins and minerals are lost.

The outer layer of the grain also contain much of the dietary fibre so refined products are not such a good source of fibre. Although foods such as white bread do not contain as much fibre as wholemeal bread they do contain some, 4 medium slices of white bread would contain 2g fibre.

By law in the UK white flour is fortified with the vitamins thiamin, niacin and the minerals calcium and iron so foods such as white bread can make a significant contribution to the intake of these vitamins and minerals.

4 medium slices of white bread provides:

• 33% RDA vitamin B1
• 22% RDA iron
• 33% RDA calcium

For explanations of the terms used here check the glossary or the nutrients page.