Characterising whole grains in nutrition research and practice

Promoting whole grain consumption for health remains a global challenge, despite evidence linking whole grains to reduced risk of chronic health conditions such as cardiovascular disease and type-2 diabetes. Whole grains are recommended for consumption in the Australian Dietary Guidelines; yet research indicates that consumers do not eat enough of these foods. Nutrition practitioners are tasked with addressing this disparity through activities such as food and nutrition research, the development of food labelling systems and dietary education; however inconsistent approaches to defining and characterising whole grain foods create a challenge for the work in these settings. Harmonised approaches to whole grain characterisation are required to build a foundation for nutrition research and practice. The end goal is to assist consumers to eat more whole grain foods. To-date little research has been conducted to address the issues associated with characterising whole grains in nutrition research and practice, in the Australian setting.