Although it has always been a whole grain, brown rice got recognized as such just this morning as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it will join the recognized ranks of healthful whole grains and can be labeled as such.
That means brown rice (as we’ve written about in Uncle Ben’s and Steamfresh) can carry the FDA whole grain health claim: “Diets rich in whole grain foods and other plant foods and low in total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers.”
As you know, our Dietary Guidelines recommend three daily whole grain servings. A simpler way to think of this and to start incorporating whole grains into your diet is to make half of all your grain servings whole. For instance, if you haven’t yet switched to whole grain bread, make a sandwich from one slice of white and one slice whole wheat. That’s half being whole.
My first thought was if Uncle Ben’s parboiled brown rice counts. Let’s hear it for lower standards!
They’re not lowering standards – they’re jst expanding what fits the definition.
The FDA now is allowing single ingredient whole grain foods — like brown rice — regardless of whether they meet the requirement for a minimum level of dietary fiber. You see, the current science acknowledges that the health care benefits of whole grains are independent of their fiber content.