Is the wheat to day radically different from that produced 50 years ago? What is the truth?

Wheat is an ancient food grain that existed even 1000 years ago and the explosive growth of gluten free foods in the United States with no rhyme or reason is sending scientists on a leather hunt to fix the real culprit which creates the so called demand pull for gluten free food products. It has become fashionable to day to blame wheat for every ailment one can think of! This is reminiscent of a similar situation years ago when fat was the villain on which blame was placed for all human ailments. This leads us to question the logistics of opinion creation that makes a particular food constituents look dangerous to many people. Logically one must ask regarding the role played by scientists in this opinion making? Unfortunately some scientists themselves are responsible in creating fictional notions regarding risks posed by certain foods to the health of the consumer and this is compounded by physicians who rides this bandwagon by advising their patients to avoid these ingredients to overcome their physical discomforts for better health. 

A typical example is the so called gluten allergy which rightly or wrongly has spawned a multibillion dollar industry making fortunes right, left and the center, hawking hundreds of products containing no gluten. According the data put out by the US government there are hardly about 3 million people in that country who are really afflicted by celiac disease for whom gluten consumption can be lethal. As against this the gluten free foods are bought by more than 30 million people and annual turnover of this industry has almost doubled to $ 15 billion in 5 years time since 2009! While it is good going for the industry so far, what is intriguing is why the government is not frowning upon such happenings which may have far reaching implications. Not even a single scientific study has been able to pinpoint that gluten is bad for health and avoiding it in the regular diet may be a wiser option. What is the role of scientists in this whole sordid happenings?

It is not that scientists are not doing any thing to unravel the mystery of gluten free foods and their popularity in the US. There are many studies that attempted to bring to a conclusion regarding any bad effect gluten, contained in wheat, might have on human health. As usual scientific community is not capable to arrive at any unanimity on any controversial subject and gluten free food is no exception. One of the theories floating around talks about the genetic changes wheat must have undergone, creating a "bad" grain that causes allergy to some people. But this has been rebutted unambiguously by geneticists who confirm that wheat hundred years ago was same as it is to day and the fault may lie some where else. Modern agricultural practices have not done any harm to the wheat vis-a-vis wheat gluten. Naturally against such assertions backed up by irrefutable data are forcing the scientists to look for the cause of gluten allergy in other areas.

A culpable culprit was identified in the socalled FODMAPS components present in wheat. These are fermentable carbohydrates like oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols which are present in wheat and which after fermentation in the large intestine produce gas and pull in more water creating stomach discomfort experienced by many people after consuming wheat products. Some isolated studies do pont out to such a possibility but it is doubtful whether such an interpretation can be realistic universally looking at those avoiding wheat. Even if rue it is practically impossible to create wheat flours free of FODMAPS. Who knows next "fad" may be FODMAPS free wheat products if the industry smells money in this area! 

Bread was made earlier days using whole wheat flour before the advent of the modern "white" flour and there were no reported cases of gluten allergy to normally healthy consumers 50 years ago. It is only since 2011 that gluten free food industry has been seeing a boom though the trend was perceptible beginning the year 2000. Modern day bread is made using many ingredients which were never used during the preparation of the traditional bread. Among the ingredients used now include vital gluten, bleached flours and a variety of dough conditioners so that an absolutely white bread with "highly liked" features like texture, chewing quality and taste is obtained. Why these ingredients are not being blamed for the allergy for which the wheat grain alone is being blamed? Is this not an anachronism? In the name of "good" bread vital gluten is routinely added to the recipes that ensures good "raising" and texture. Do we know any thing about the ill effects of vital gluten that is routinely added during dough making? Is vital gluten as digestible as natural gluten formed from gliadin and glutenin during slow kneading and fermentation? Could vital gluten be a culprit in stomach discomforts caused by modern wheat products?

What is lost in this gluten free food "Circus" is the long term consequences of more and more people switching over to these foods for imaginary reasons though they really do not need them? In the place of gluten the product formulations contain carbohydrates like starch and effectively reduce the protein content of the formulated final product. This is analogous to the situation 3-4 decades ago fat free food was a "fad" and these fat free or low fat products were richer in carbohydrates, which we know to day is not healthy as per to day's thinking. Gluten free foods like bread becomes a junk food adding to the health problems Americans are already facing currently. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

GLOBAL WHEAT "TURBULENCE"-SPECULATIVE PRACTICES RAISING PRICES

Wheat market is getting more and more turbulent with Russia backtracking on its export commitments because of the severe drought ravaging the country. It is considered crucial that the global market is not allowed to "heat up" due to the temporary hiccup in grain production in one of the several countries that dominate wheat market in the world. Russia is 5th largest producer of wheat behind the EU, China, India and the US. According to market watchers what ever drop in global production has happened, that can be more than made up by the available stock in other countries like China, India, the US and Canada. India alone is sitting on a grain "mountain" estimated at 60 million tons (including rice), not knowing what to do with its surplus with severe constraint on domestic storage space for these grains. Any large export by India is considered fraught with the risk of price collapse in the world trade in wheat. It is unfortunate that there is no international cooperation amongst top producers to evolve a strategy to manage the present situation which is causing abnormal spurts in the price in the international market.

It may be recalled that a similar crisis occurred in 2008 when there was a severe drought in Australia leading to world wide shortages, fall in over all production and extensive embargoes on food export across Asia. This even led to "food riots" in Indonesia and Pakistan. At least one could understand the provocative but genuine cause for such disruption to global food supply at that time. The price of wheat, one of the major staples in the world shot up through the roof reaching $13 a bushel, a historical and unparalleled high in wheat price. But how is it possible that wheat prices are surging to day when there is a relatively small shortfall in production, that too in one country and global production recorded the third highest figure in history?. There is already dire forecasts that next years production would be less though such threat perceptions are generated by vested business interests, intent on creating opportunities to make unjustified profits on the fear of possible future shortage of wheat. It is feared that the consequences of such manipulations will ultimately affect the consumers in the rich as well as the poor countries. While higher wheat prices will reflect in higher prices for a wide range of wheat based consumer products like bread, biscuits, pizzas, rolls etc in industrialized countries, it will also affect poor and the hungry in the third world depending on imported wheat for survival. Who are going to be benefited by this unjustified distortion in wheat prices? Of course the rich farmers in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe who will laugh all the way to their banks with windfalls in wheat exports at high prices. Already farmers' organizations from the US are touring some of the Asian countries to bag orders for their wheat.

What is intriguing in the whole situation is why the Russians chose to announce the embargo on export now, even without waiting for the season to end? Are they in league with global wheat traders? After all Russia produced less than 50 million tons in 2007 while this year's projection was 90 million tons but they are still likely to harvest not less than 75 million tons. How can there be shortages there? Export commitments could have been met through bilateral consultations and accommodations with countries like India and China but it did not happen raising questions about the transparency of wheat trading system in the world. Is there no way to counteract the machinations of the wheat traders and ensure some stability in wheat prices? With massive subsidies that fatten the rich farmers in the US and Europe, it is very easy for these countries to raise wheat production but probably they may not do it because the scarcity will benefit their farmers in a big way. Considering that the US and India put together have more than 100 million tons of food grains in stock, the relatively small shortfall of production in Russia, should not have affected the global prices and a genuinely concerted effort by these countries with large stocks would have thwarted the efforts of speculators to ratchet up the prices under misplaced apprehensions. There is also the uncertainty regarding the attitude of China, top most producer of wheat in the world, to the present crisis, though they may not venture directly into global market for fear of escalation of domestic wheat prices. It is small consolation that the prices have not reached any where near the record highs in 2008 and there is still time for tackling this problem, given the dynamics of the situation.

In India's case there is already some apprehension that there would be a drop in production next year and this has clouded the thinking on the part of the government. As a knee-jerk reaction the high flying Food Minister has announced a slew of measures to augment the storage capacity, though no one is sure whether this would be translated into reality in the near future, knowing well the snail-like progress of government projects. Probably GOI could consider a strategic tie-up with Russia to loan to them some of the surplus grains for returning it next year when the production would pick up there, restoring normalcy in farming. By that time hopefully the new storage structures might be ready for use. Countries like China and the US have sufficient flexibility in their farming system to increase production within a short period. The present situation should not be allowed to be exploited by speculators for raising global prices that will affect the lives of millions of poor people who depend on purchase of wheat from international market by their countries. Led by Egypt the wheat importing countries in the third world constitute the largest net importers of wheat and they include Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Algeria, Nigeria, Iraq, Yemen, Bangladesh etc accounting for more than 90% of the 70 million tons traded in the world.

V.H.POTTY

http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

RICE-MOTHER NATURE'S GIFT TO MANKIND

Rice and wheat constitute the two major staple food grains that divide the world when food consumption profiles are used as the criterion. Both are excellent foods containing nourishing macro and micro nutrients. The growing conditions for each of these grains differ significantly and historically the food consumption habits are also influenced by the climatic conditions that allow their cultivation. Sadly there is also a great divide between countries which are rich and others not so rich and this economic segmentation is telling on the grains consumed by each group. Thus wheat consumption is more common in rich countries while rice is the staple in less richer countries, Japan being an exception. Looking at the rice scenario, depending on annual per capita consumption, countries can be fitted into 3 categories. Under the Asian model comes countries like India (80 kg), China (90 kg), Indonesia (150 kg) and Myanmar (200 kg) consuming 80 kg or more per capita annually. Countries like Brazil (45 kg), Colombia (40 kg) and Ivory Coast(60 kg) constitute the second group under the subtropical model consuming between 30 kg and 45 kg per capita annually. There are a few countries coming under the west model taking less than 10 kg per capita yearly which include France (4 kg) and USA (9 kg). World average is 86 kg per capita per year which is a 40% increase compared to consumption 30 years ago.

World production of rice is about 400 million tons (MT) a year, out of which China and India, accounting for almost 35% of world population, produce more than 50%. While China produces about 130 MT of rice, Indian out put is around 90 MT. That the food consumption habits can be subtly changed by economic and other factors is borne out by the popularity of wheat rising in many predominantly rice consuming countries during seventies and eighties due to aggressive promotion of wheat by countries like USA, Canada, Argentina and Australia where large surpluses were available for export. Wheat production, driven by modern agricultural technologies, has crossed 600 MT and this reflects the imbalances in supply of food in rice consuming and wheat eating populations. Even in India wheat is increasingly becoming popular with the younger generation, probably due to the tremendous technological advantage this grain enjoys over rice, in terms of modern innovative and convenient products. Breads, pastries and cookies, pasta products, pizza products, hamburgers, subs, sandwiches, hot dogs etc are the favorite choices amongst the children and youngsters while there is not even a single rice based modern product that has been popularized, at least in India. Rice based products popular in South East Asia are based on their traditional food cultures and it is less likely that they will become popular else where in the world. Thus there is a large technological gap vis-a-vis products as far as these grains are concerned. But this does not deter the value of rice as one of the most nutritious foods, consumed over thousands of years of human evolution, sustaining large populations in several continents.

Economic considerations do play a role in castigating rice as an inferior food and implicating it in some of the serious health disorders through sustained campaigns. There are many dubious claims by vested parties, implicating rice in practically every disease mankind has known! But the facts are totally different and world must recognize the fact that rice is not only equal to wheat in food value,but also it has several positive advantages compared to other grains. Rice eaters consume more nutrients like folic acid, potassium and iron, are less likely to be over weight, have 34% reduced risk of having high blood pressure and 21% lesser risk of metabolic diseases. It has fairly good levels of Manganese, B-complex vitamins, Selenium and Magnesium. Sodium content is practically nil being less than 5 mg per 100g. It has been shown that rice, especially the brown version, decreases dramatically the risk of cancers in colon, throat, thyroid, pancreas,rectum, stomach, breast, mouth and uterus. Selenium present in rice protects the cells from free radical damage, enables thyroid to produce thyroxine in optimal quantities and reduces risk of joint inflammation. In contrast those eating bread, pasta and similar wheat products are reported to be at greater risks of kidney disorders according to Italian researchers. Gluten present in wheat is allergic to many people, so much so, all labels have to declare the presence or of absence of this constituent of wheat in any processed foods. When wheat is milled to white flour, the most nutritious part, the germ, is removed, leaving only the starch and gluten as major edible materials. In contrast during rice milling, germ is not removed and even the bran layer is only partially removed leaving substantial nutrition in tact.

The only fault with rice, if at all one can call it that way, is its high glycemic index which is responsible for the release of glucose in less time into the blood, possibly not desirable for diabetic patients but it is an added strength since normal consumers can derive faster energy by digestion and absorption. Rice based weaning foods are universally recommended to infants due to this unique quality. With development of low glycemic rice, (less than GI 50) which is now available in the market even Type II diabetic consumers can eat rice with practically no risk of glucose surge. New varieties are also in the market with higher contents of iron, protein, fat, dietary fiber etc and it is time for all misconceptions about rice, probably orchestrated by anti-rice lobby, are removed from the minds of consumers and rice is restored to its preeminence as the "LIFE SUSTAINER" in this planet. Long live rice, long live homo sapiens!.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/