Milling & Baking News - September 4, 2012 - 19

Entrance exam
ests are taking place in cafeterias as well as classrooms this school year. School food service operators and the grain-based foods industry want to see if students will give such whole grain items as pizza crust, pasta and pancakes an “A” for appetizing or an “F” for ﬂing it into the trash. “The school guidelines are the No. 1 story in whole grains at the moment,” said Jeff Casper, R.&D. manager for Horizon Milling, based in Minneapolis and a joint venture between Cargill and CHS. An item in the Jan. 26 Federal Register sped up whole grain innovation in school meal programs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said that for this school year and the 2013-14 school year, whole grain-rich products must make up half of all grain products offered to students. Starting with the 2014-15 school year, schools must offer only whole grain-rich products. Whole grain-rich products must contain at least 51% whole grain, and the product’s remaining grain product must be enriched. The “2012 Back to School Trends Report” released in August by the School Nutrition Association, National Harbor, Md., gave insight on whole grain progress. The survey of 579 U.S. school districts found more than 92% of the districts serve pizza with whole grain crust. More than 80% offer whole grain pastas, rice and cereals, and 78% serve whole grain tortillas, pitas or ﬂatbreads.
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Whole grain products, including pizza crust, seek students’ approval

Pizza, including both whole grain crust and crust that is not whole grain, was the most popular lunch entree at 42% of the districts. It ranked ahead of second-place chicken nuggets, tenders, strips or ﬁngers at 26%. “Whole grain pizza is a great place to incorporate whole grains for school lunch,” said Brook Carson, technical product manager for ADM Milling, Decatur, Ill. “Whole grain wheat ﬂour is typically used to maintain the texture that consumers are used to with pizza, but any type of whole grain ﬂour could be used. The gluten in the whole wheat ﬂour is required for the strong chewy texture. Other grains could be added to provide a unique product.” Hard white wheat is the most common approach in pizza crust formulation, Mr. Casper said. “Every milling company has their own version of white wheat,” he said. “There is an attempt to differentiate white wheats from one another.” Horizon Milling offers WheatSelect, a white spring whole wheat ﬂour that has the lighter color, softer texture and milder ﬂavor of white ﬂour. In preparing its Kansas Diamond white whole wheat ﬂour, ADM Milling selects and mills white wheats to ensure the process yields a light-colored, yet ﬁber-rich and protein-rich ﬂour with microﬁne particles that produce a smooth, pleasing mouthfeel, according to the company. Bay State Milling, Quincy, Mass., this year launched an Easy GrAin

According to a School Nutrition Association’s report, more than 92% of the U.S. school districts surveyed serve pizza with whole grain crust.

pizza crust mix that is 53% whole grain on a ﬂour basis, which meets and exceeds the U.S.D.A.’s school lunch program criteria of 51%. The company had students in mind when developing the mix. Consumers seeking whole grain products may fall into two groups, said Dave Kovacic, director of technical services for Bay State Milling and based in Wichita, Kas. One group wants to experience the taste, texture and sight of whole grain products. The other group does not seek that experience and instead wants whole grain products to more closely resemble enriched ﬂour products. Students generally fall into the latter group. “With school systems, they clearly want it to look and taste like pizza, traditional pizza,” Mr. Kovacic said. Bay State Milling throughout the 2011-12 school year worked with food service customers on whole grain pizza crust and created customized mixes or helped develop scratch systems for the school food service operations, he said. Easy GrAin is the next step, Mr. Kovacic said. Bay State Milling uses its GrainEssentials extra ﬁne white whole wheat ﬂour in Easy GrAin to make the
Milling & Baking News September 4, 2012 / 19

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Milling & Baking News - September 4, 2012

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