The 2005 Dietary
Guidelines for Americans, released in January, recommend
that half of all daily grain servings come from whole-grain foods.
These recommendations mark a significant departure from past recommendations,
which made no distinction between whole and refined grains.
USDA has been providing dietary advice for over a century. Since
1980, however, recommendations on attaining adequate nutrition also
included information about how and why to avoid overconsumption
of nutrients like saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium, linked
to chronic diseases. Consumption patterns during this period suggest
that consumers modify their food choices in response to a variety
of factors, including increased information about the links between
diet and health. According to ERS
food availability data between 1980 and 2003, Americans reduced
their consumption of red meats, such as beef, in favor of leaner
meats, such as chicken and turkey. They also more than doubled their
intake of skim milk, while drinking half as much whole milk.
Early indications suggest that Americans may likewise be eating
more whole grains. To gauge shoppers’ initial response to
the new Guidelines,
ERS examined whole-grain purchases over an 8-week period immediately following
the Guidelines’ January 12 release. ERS compared the purchases
with those over the previous 8 weeks, as well as with those over the same
8-week period in 2004 to control for seasonal spikes.
Although low-carbohydrate dieters may still shy away from certain
grain products, the popularity of whole-grain products appears
to be rising. In the 8 weeks after the release of the Guidelines,
the average shopper purchased about 13 percent more pounds of whole-grain
products than during the same period in 2004. When we compared
the 8 weeks before and after the release, we found that shoppers
bought nearly 12 percent more whole-grain breads, 19 percent more
whole-grain rice, and 16 percent more whole-grain ready-to-eat
breakfast cereals. These increases may be a result of changes in
dietary awareness. In addition, shoppers now have more whole-grain
foods from which to choose; in 2004 alone, nearly 100 new products
touted their whole-grain formulations. Shoppers can now find a
variety of whole-grain pastas at mainstream grocery stores, white
breads made from whole-grain flour, and reformulated, whole-grain
breakfast cereals.
