Review: Wonder Bread Whole-Grain White

Posted on Mar 2nd 2011 2:00PM by Keri Glassman

Filed Under: Diet & Weight Loss, Too Good to Be Food

Wonder

I am not sure which brings back fonder memories: the smell of Wonder bread (I grew up near a factory where they churned out this refined goodness by the truck load) or the bread getting stuck on the roof of my mouth while eating a bologna sandwich.

The familiar taste and look of Wonder bread is here again, with an apparent dose of health this time. Wonder bread's whole-grain white bread has upped its ante and, as the label states, is a good source of fiber and calcium, with less sodium than regular white bread and 8 grams of whole grains. Is it possible to have the same amazing benefits of true whole-grain bread but still maintain that old-world white look and feel? Or is this new product simply Too Good to Be Food? Let's see.

What's in It:

Wheat flour, water, whole-wheat flour, yeast, brown rice flour, high-fructose corn syrup or sugar, wheat gluten, soy fiber, calcium sulfate. Contains 2 percent or less of: soybean oil, honey, salt, barley malt, datem, vinegar, mono- and diglycerides, calcium propionate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, monocalcium phosphate, yeast nutrients (ammonium chloride, ammonium sulfate), ethoxylated mono- and diglycerides, enzymes, yeast extract, wheat starch, azodicarbonamide, B vitamins [thiamine mononitrate (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin, pyridoxine hydrochloride (B6), folic acid, vitamin B12], vitamin E acetate, zinc oxide, soy lecithin, ferrous sulfate (iron), calcium dioxide, soy flour, whey, vitamin D3.

First let's talk flour. Wheat flour, whole-wheat flour and brown rice flour are all used in the product and listed in the top five ingredients. The difference in them lies in the milling process: Whole-grain flour (which includes brown rice) maintains the entire wheat kernel including the fiberous bran layer and nutritionally dense germ. Wheat flour contains only the endosperm, the part of the kernel with the least nutritional value. The bran and germ have been stripped during processing. Let me point out, in case you didn't go back to read the label, that the first ingredient is wheat flour! The one thing these guys all have in common is that they all rely on the fourth ingredient, yeast, to successfully rise into bread.

More Too Good to Be Food

Bread products often contain ingredients to add sweet flavor. Wonder uses high-fructose corn syrup or glucose. I am not from the "high-fructose corn syrup is just like any other sugar" camp. It is refined and has been shown to cause more harm than other forms of sweetener.

Wheat gluten is derived from the wheat kernel (just like our flour friends from up top) and provides the structure and elasticity of bread.

Soy fiber is added to increase the fiber content. Sounds like a good thing, but unfortunately, it doesn't come without controversy. While whole soy (for example, edamame) has many health benefits when consumed in moderation, there is research as to the potential dangers associated with the process of creating products such as soy fiber and soy protein isolate. Processed soy, thumbs down!

Calcium sulfate is a safe preservative to prevent the growth of mold and also ups the calcium content. No complaints here.

Next up, a long list of ingredients that are added in small quantities. Honey, salt, vinegar and barley malt are added for flavor, preservation and texture. The first is soybean oil that helps create a tender bread.

Okay, now here is where you either put the product back on the shelf if you are reading the label or your eyes glaze over and throw it in your cart. These words look too hard to pronounce to be food. Sodium stearoyl lactylate, datem, calcium propionate and monocalcium phosphate are all safe additives and commonly used in bread production for their emulsifying and preservation powers. Great news here! These additives help to maintain just the right environment to facilitate the many and rather fragile chemical reactions that occur in bread formation.

Similarly, yeast nutrients (ammonium chloride, ammonium sulfate) are necessary to feed the yeast and kick-start the fermentation process. Yeast enzymes and yeast extract help speed up the fermentation process and improve the final bread product.

Azodicarbonamide -- don't try saying this one with a mouth full of bread -- is a controversial food additive that has been approved for use in the U.S. but has been banned in other countries due to potential carcinogenic effects. Need I say more? Bread certainly doesn't need this to be packaged and put on shelves.

The last group of ingredients are mostly vitamins and minerals added to boost nutrient content: B vitamins [thiamine mononitrate (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin, pyridoxine hydrochloride (B6), folic acid, vitamin B12], vitamin E acetate, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate (iron), calcium dioxide, vitamins D and E, zinc, iron and calcium.

Finally, soy lecithin, soy flour and whey are included for emulsification, increased protein content and texture. Since we discussed soy already, I'll let you decide here.

Bottom Line:

While whole-grain white Wonder bread is a new take on an old classic, this is a time where I say out with the old and out with the new. I applaud Wonder for trying to improve the traditional white, and the nutrition facts are impressive with two slices being equal to a glass of milk and containing 3 grams of fiber. However, I still would not like to see this in your bread box. My recommendation to parents is this: Begin with whole-wheat bread! If you start your kids off on it they won't miss the white. If you already have little white bread eaters (and it's OK, all of our kids have been introduced to a few things we 'd prefer they never sunk teeth into), go slow. Introduce whole-wheat bread in your home without forcing them to make the switch. Make sure you are eating it yourself. Go half whole-wheat (on the bottom of the sandwich) and half white. Keep introducing it and making it an option. Most people do grow to like whole wheat even if they grew up with white. You and your kids will reap the whole-grain benefits while steering clear of the long list of added preservatives and ingredients. Now, go enjoy a healthy whole-wheat PB sandwich with a glass of skim milk!

Nutrition Info:

[2 slices]

Calories: 140

Fat: 2 g

Sat Fat: 0.5 g

Trans Fat: 0 g

Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g

Monounsaturated Fat: 0 g

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sodium: 200 mg

Total Carbohydrate: 25 g

Fiber: 3 g

Sugar: 5 g

Protein: 6 g

Nationally recognized nutrition expert and published author of "The O2 Diet," Keri Glassman is the founder and president of Keri Glassman, Nutritious Life, a nutrition practice based in New York City. For years, Keri has been a leader in advancing a "whole person" approach to health and wellness. She has dedicated her career to creating services and promoting education through her Nutritious Life brand. You can be friends with Keri on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.

13 Comment

Tags: keri-glassman, too good to be food, white bread, whole grain, whole grain white bread, wonder bread

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

the60ezwereawful 3-02-2011 @ 9:56PM

makes me 'wonder'

Frank 3-02-2011 @ 10:03PM

What Garbage this bread is. I would NEVER buy anything with the words Hydrogenated or syrup on the label unless it is maple syrup. High Fructose, they should be ashamed. GOD BLESS AMERICA because we will need it with all the garbage they try to feed us. The Mexicans get to drink real Coca Cola and we drink high fructose coke. DISGRACEFULL!

Jane2522 3-02-2011 @ 10:33PM

A dairy farmer would give his cows stale bread. He noticed the one brand the cows would NOT TOUCH, was WONDER BREAD. Hmmm, wonder why. And, we are eating it. The cows must know more than we do.

Diana B. 3-02-2011 @ 11:01PM

Did you grow up in Hoboken? I remember there was a Wonder-Hostess factory and the aroma. That, Tootsie Roll, and Maxwell House.

trish 3-02-2011 @ 11:25PM

High Fructose should not be used in anything, it ISN'T the same as sugar, how many of you out there remember candy and bread when they tasted like candy and bread?? Because they used SUGAR back then. As for Wheat bread, I HATE it. I am 66 yrs old and I have been trying to get use to it off and on for years, I don't like it and I guess I never will.

kc 3-02-2011 @ 11:19PM

Anyone remember when they baked these teeny tiny loaves of Wonder bread? Maybe around 1954? Think they sold for a quarter.

Jane 3-03-2011 @ 12:22AM

That's a shot of ESP! I was just thinking of those tiny loaves of bread and lo and behold someone else remembered them also. You must be a baby boomer like me. Yes it was in the early 50's and I was just 6 or 7 yrs. old at the time. Mom used to send me and my older sister by 2 yrs. down the road to the little store to buy bologna, Wonder bread and those big frankfurters they call knockers now. Well one day they had those tiny loaves of bread and we got a couple and took them home and Mom just loved them. By the way, we used to sneak a slice of bologna, a slice of bread or a frank and eat it on the way home and we would tell her we went through mouse country. The 50's were the good old days, and I think an innocent time and I love thinking back to that time. We were all so happy. Poor but happy. I don't care what they say about Wonder bread and some of the other old foods, we ate it and it never hurt any of us.

jlw 3-03-2011 @ 12:46AM

Wonder Bread wasn't allowed in the house along with Butternut or any other soft squishy white bread. It was used strictly for fish bait. And 60 years later - it's still fish bait.

jlw 3-03-2011 @ 12:52AM

Homemade wheat bread (not bread machine) with just a bit of sugar puts store bought to shame. Can't even compare the 2.....and it smells soooo good.

lois 3-03-2011 @ 1:40AM

Stick with Whole Wheat bread...this bresd has too little "protection" in it.

oakspondman 3-03-2011 @ 5:21AM

They have made this "NEW" bread for years.

Very old AOL news

MadeleineT 3-03-2011 @ 4:46AM

High Fructose corn syrup is not a good thing, also you didn't say if this is genetically engineered wheat and flour. I grew up eating wonder bread and tip-top bread, they were both delish but then when Monsanto came on the scene wonder bread turned to mush, it doesn't get stale it gets wet and mushy,it tastes like paste. I haven't bought it for a few years now.
Azodicarbonamide -- (don't try saying this one with a mouth full of bread -- is a controversial food additive that has been approved for use in the U.S. but has been banned in other countries due to potential carcinogenic effects. Need I say more? Bread certainly doesn't need this to be packaged and put on shelves.)
As you stated, this is so bad it is banned all over the world, the food networks warn you about it yet you are telling us to let the kids enjoy? I don't think so. That doesnt' even make sense. Wonder bread came out with crustless bread they claimed the kids would love, I bought a loaf and the minute I opened it up I smelled chemicals, I tasted it and I tasted chemicals, it was awful, no kid would eat this and sure enough 4 to 6 months later it was off the shelf, gone. When I was a kid there were some ingredients listed, I recognized them all,there were maybe 8 or 10, what has changed that they need to add all this garbage to their bread? No one is eating it, it is sitting on the shelves, they just don't get it, times have changed thats true but people still have taste buds. Bisquick, Thomases English muffins, and lot of things hav eobviously suffered from taste changes and they sit there on the shelves, they just dont' get it, people will use their bread machines before buying and eating this swill. Foreign bakeries use 4 ingredients and they are sold out at my fresh foods market every night, Flour, yeast salt and sugar, sometimes eggs for challah bread, the Russian and Polish breads are delicious, why would you buy poisoned wonder bread instead of that ?

Snack Girl 3-03-2011 @ 8:51AM

I wrote about this bread today on Snack Girl, too. I wish it was made without all the ingredients because it would be helpful to have something that so many people love become healthier.