Peter Levangie (Bay State Milling)
A white flour now carries more than twice the fiber of whole wheat. Bred for nutrition and grown by American farmers, it's making its way into pastas, breads and tortillas on grocery shelves. Yet the standards taking shape in Washington could sideline this innovation before it reaches the school cafeterias and family tables that need it most.
After decades of rising diet-related disease, the first federal definition of ultra-processed food is coming soon and will determine which foods help or harm Americans' health. The MAHA Commission report has described UPFs as typically high in added sugars, refined grains, or sodium and low in fiber and essential nutrients. Yet the very agencies developing the formal definition have cautioned that an overly inclusive classification could discourage nutritionally beneficial foods. Judging grain by how it’s milled, not the nutrition it delivers, risks doing exactly that.
Fiber is the clearest case. It is among the most studied nutrients in medicine, tied to gut, metabolic and cardiovascular health, with emerging research around its role in immunity and mental health. Yet more than nine in ten Americans fall short of the recommended daily amount, a gap now driving changes in federal nutrition policy.
The backlash against empty carbs is fair, but only because wheat spent a century bred for yield and shelf life over nutrition. But grains have changed. Over the past decade, American farmers have been growing a non-GMO high-fiber wheat that, when milled, tastes and performs just like white flour but with ten times the fiber. The nutrition is bred into the grain, not added after, and it reaches people through the most familiar foods on the table.
Decades of work by CSIRO, the public research arm of the Australian government, led to this high-fiber wheat. A peer-reviewed clinical trial by USDA and University of California, Davis researchers found that its resistant starch reduced blood sugar responses and improved gut microbiome composition compared to conventional wheat. But U.S. standards classify high-fiber wheat flour as refined because the bran and germ are milled out. Its dietary fiber is in the endosperm — the white, fluffy part that gives bread its taste and texture. A UPF definition that assesses grain on how it’s milled denies Americans the health benefits of crops bred specifically to provide better nutrition.
That consequence reaches the everyday foods families already eat. A loaf of white bread or a box of pasta made with high-fiber wheat flour, whose fiber meets the FDA's definition of intrinsic and intact fiber and carries the American Heart Association's Heart-Check Certification, could still be designated ultra-processed.
The administration has said this new definition will also inform a front-of-package “traffic light” system to help shoppers identify ultra-processed foods. The trouble isn't the concept, it's prioritizing milling over nutrition. Under that framework, a high-fiber bread could still get marked with a cautionary color, steering people away from the very nutrient nearly all of them lack.
The stakes are highest for families on tight budgets. Grains are the most affordable and accessible staple in the American diet, anchoring school cafeterias, SNAP purchases, and the carts of those with no room for premium wellness products. With grocery prices roughly a quarter higher than five years ago, a high-fiber crop improves foods families already buy, while giving farmers a higher-value alternative to commodity wheat.
Federal school meal rules suffer from the same blind spot. If school meal programs continue to credit grain based on whole-grain content alone, a white flour with more fiber than whole wheat won’t count toward the whole-grain requirement. That shortchanges cash-strapped school kitchens and the cooks who know what kids will eat. Fixing it doesn’t require an act of Congress. Simply updating USDA crediting guidance would make pizza, pasta and bread more nutritious.
The pending definition of ultra-processed foods is a first step, but getting it right means considering the crops America already grows and the foods families already buy, at prices they can afford. A definition that penalizes refined grains without accounting for crop innovation stifles progress and keeps better foods out of reach for many Americans. One that judges food on the nutrition it delivers helps it grow, improving the foods Americans love and the nation's health.
Peter Levangie is CEO of Bay State Milling, a 127-year-old, family-owned grain miller. The company operates ten mills across North America and produces a range of grain-based ingredients, including nutrient-dense options like high-fiber wheat flour.