Which type of wheat is good for your health?

 The question is usually asked in the realm of flour, since that’s when we most often see the terminology. We know all about how manufactures mill flour, about enriched flour and even bleached flour, but we haven’t talked about the grains themselves yet. Odd, since that’s where the answer to our question really lies.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF WHEAT

First, wheat is primarily classified according to its growing season.

• Winter Wheat – planted in the fall, harvested in the spring, comprises approximately 75% of wheat grown in the U.S.
• Spring Wheat – planted in the spring, harvested in late summer or early fall.

Beyond the growing season, wheat is further categorized according to its hardness (hard/soft), color (red/white) and shape of its kernel. In the end, we’re left with the following six types of wheat:

• Hard Red Winter
• Hard Red Spring
• Soft Red Winter
• Durum
• Hard White Wheat
• Soft White Wheat

THE DIFFERENT PURPOSES OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF WHEAT

The protein content of the wheat is what primarily determines what the wheat will be used for and the greater the protein, the greater the elasticity of the dough will be.

• Hard red winter and hard red spring contain the highest percentages of protein are most often used in goods requiring size, like breads and rolls.
• Hard white and soft white contain the lowest percentages of protein and best suited for baked goods like cakes, cookies, crackers, pastries and muffins.

The color of the wheat plays a part too and as you may have already guessed, red wheat is darker than white wheat. Red wheat also has a stronger, more bitter flavor than white. This isn’t a big deal for many of us home bakers, but it is a big deal when you’re a big manufacturer trying to create a product that’s visually appealing to your consumer.

• Soft red winter is often used in blatantly obvious brown crackers and flat breads. These are often marketed as “whole grain” crackers and such.
• Soft white is used in goods when manufactures want the item to look and taste “white,” but be able to claim as healthy with wheat. One example of this are muffins “made with white wheat.”

BLENDING DIFFERENT TYPES OF WHEAT FOR DIFFERENT FLOURS

Generally speaking, the nutritional profiles of the grains do not differ much beyond the protein. Essentially, you could swap one wheat for another and the nutrition (except the protein) would remain fairly consistent. That’s why you’ll find many people using white wheat for bread at home when they’re trying to wean their families away from processed white flour.

But the only time you’re getting 100% whole wheat is when the label literally says “100% whole wheat” or “100% white whole wheat,” in which case the only difference is the color, harvesting season and protein content.

Did you know that 100% whole wheat can only be claimed if the resulting flour contains all three portions of the grain (bran, germ, endosperm) in same proportion as they are found in the original grain?

There are many other flours that aren’t 100% whole wheat though. So then, what are they made of?

• All-Purpose Flour. 80% hard red wheat, 20% soft red wheat. Remember that this is made only from the endosperm, which has very little (if any) nutrients and very little color, since the germ and bran are naturally darker. Remember that all-purpose flour tends to be bleached and enriched.
• Bread Flour. Most varieties are made from hard red spring wheat, since it contains the highest level of protein and bread flour is ideal for bread. This is also milled only from the endosperm, so there is little, if any, nutrition. Bread flour also tends to be bleached and enriched.
• Cake Flour. Usually derived from soft white wheat, but again only from the endosperm.
• Pastry Flour. With a slightly higher percentage of protein than cake flour, this is likely derived from the endosperm of hard white wheat.
• Self-Rising Flour. A combination of all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Not recommended, since the all-purpose flour is likely bleached and there’s no control over the quantity of baking powder and salt in the mixture (which makes using it in a recipe that calls for both ingredients nearly impossible). Plus the baking powder can become ineffective in humid climates.
• Stone-Ground Whole Wheat Flour. Made the old fashioned way with stones grinding the wheat berries instead of steel mills. Bread connoisseurs claim stone-ground flour retains more nutrients than steel milled because the heat generated from the steel mills can harm some of the nutrients.

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) actively seeks to bring down trade barriers or change policies that may prevent an overseas customer from choosing U.S. wheat. In most cases, these barriers violate a country’s commitments under the World Trade Organization (WTO) or a free trade agreement (FTA).

Every year, USW submits a report to the U.S. Trade Representative detailing these barriers. View the full report here.

The sections below discuss several categories related to trade barriers and provide specific trade barrier examples alphabetically by country.

To learn more about US Wheat market visit:

Trade Barriers - U.S. Wheat Associates

Domestic Support In September 2016, the United States filed a case against China on its domestic support policy. In February 2019, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled that China had exceeded its domestic support for wheat and rice every year between 2012 and 2015. China’s current market price support for wheat exceeds international prices, leading to higher domestic support than allowed under the WTO. This resulted in China’s overproduction of wheat, to the point at which they hold about half of the global wheat stocks. China’s current policy displaces demand for U.S. wheat in this market. Market price support is one of the most trade-distorting types of support because it relies on border controls and/or market interventions to prevent domestic prices from falling below the support level. Governments purchase wheat above market prices and then are unable to sell that wheat without incurring substantial losses. That is why China’s wheat stocks have grown to such extraordinary volumes. Market Access The recently revised China tariff rate quota (TRQ) rules for importing wheat and other commodities are significant. In October 2019, China announced new regulations to import wheat and other agricultural goods. This announcement included goals for TRQ fill rates, eligibility for additional state trading enterprises to receive quota, and additional language on the reallocation of unused TRQ. These changes are aimed at bringing China into compliance with its WTO commitments. In April 2019, the WTO’s dispute settlement body ruled that China was not administering their wheat, corn and rice TRQ’s in a “transparent, predictable, or fair” way. China established a TRQ of 9.64 million metric tons (MMT) for wheat when it joined the WTO in 2001. The TRQ has never been filled, “despite world wheat prices and market conditions conducive to doing so.” China’s WTO accession agreement allowed 90% of the TRQ to be reserved for importation through government buyers or state trading enterprises (STEs). Only 10% was reserved for direct import by the private sector. The private sector portion of the TRQ is functioning well enough to be filled in recent years, partly because Chinese millers are trying to meet the growing demand for products that require flour from different wheat classes with better milling and baking characteristics than domestically produced wheat provides. However, China’s notifications to the WTO on TRQ usage admit an average fill rate of only 23%. The facts also argue against potential claims that enforcing the TRQ agreement would threaten China’s food security. China produces more wheat each year than any other single country and currently holds an estimated 50% of the world’s wheat supplies. If China allowed its 9.64 million metric tons (MMT) wheat TRQ to fill, it would be the third-largest wheat importer in the world while still being more than 90% self-sufficient in wheat production. Opening the wheat TRQ would also allow private sector miller

https://www.uswheat.org/policy/trade-barriers/#toggle-id-5-closed

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Aimee Jones