Food and Health Communications

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Whole Grain Cookies?

MyPlate advises individuals to consume half of their grain servings each day as whole grains. This equates to about 3 ounces. Food manufacturers have taken note of this and many are reformulating their products and offering new ones as whole grain.A package of one such product caught my eye in the grocery store:?Whole Grain Fig Newtons. They are considered a good source of whole grains because they contain 8 grams of whole grains per serving. To be an excellent source of whole grains a product needs to contain at least 16 grams per serving. Manufacturers have also come out with whole grain Wheat Thins and Whole Grain Triscuits. To make this easy to understand, we created the chart on this page which shows a calorie comparison between these snacking products and whole cooked grains.While it is great that  cookies are made with whole grains, they really shouldn’t count as a whole grain serving because they contain added sugar. They are a better cookie choice for those who can afford to imbibe. These cookies and crackers are clearly not the lowest calorie choices for those trying to lose weight.1 ounce cooked oatmeal                      171 ounce cooked brown rice                  311 ounce cooked barley                          341 ounce cooked whole wheat pasta    351 ounce whole grain bread                   761 ounce whole grain Fig Newtons     1001 ounce whole grain Triscuits            1201 ounce whole grain Wheat Thins     121