Grains and cereals include wheat and buckwheat, barley, rye, oats, rice, millet, sorghum, kamut, quinoa, amaranth, rye berries and spelt, as well as food products made from these grains such as breads, couscous, breakfast cereals, crackers, muffins, dumplings and cookies.
Many popular grain products have been processed to make them quicker to cook and easier to chew. These refined grains are then enriched with the addition of key nutrients that were lost in the processing (e.g., B vitamins, iron, folic acid, fibre). This enrichment, however, does not replace all of the nutrients that were originally lost in the processing (e.g., fibre).
Choose whole grains more often than refined grains.
| GREAT CHOICES | GOOD CHOICES | CHOOSE RARELY | |
| Breads and other grain products | 100% whole grain breads (e.g., whole wheat, cracked/flaked wheat, bulgur, wheat berries/groats, whole rye, cracked/ flaked rye, rye berries, whole oats, rolled oats, steel cut oats, oat groats, flaked barley, cornmeal, quinoa, cracked/flaked triticale, triticale berries, amaranth, kasha, pearl millet, whole grain spelt) | Enriched refined grain breads (e.g., white, brown, buck wheat, matzo, oatmeal, rye, pumpernickel, sour dough, injera, pita, french, italian) | Croissants
|
| Cereals hot or cold | Whole grain and a source of fibre ( ≥ 2g of dietary fibre/sv) using non- hydrogenated vegetable oils as fat source. May also include wheat bran, wheat germ, oat bran, ground flax seed as added fibre sources |
Refined grains and low in fibre cereals (eg., cream of wheat) containing non-hydrogenated vegetable oils and palm or palm kernel oils as the fat source | Sugar coated cereals and granola cereals containing coconut oil, cottonseed oil or hydrogenated vegetable oils as the fat source |
| Rice and pasta | Brown rice, wild rice, whole wheat pasta | White, basmati, parboiled, short or long grain rice, regular pasta, egg noodles, rice noodles, wheat noodles, buck- wheat noodles, instant rice | Rice or pasta made from commercial mixes or with added cream, butter or cheese sauces |
| Crackers, bread sticks, crisp breads, rice cakes, dry flatbreads | Products made with whole grains and a source of fibre ( ≥ 2g of dietary fibre/sv) containing non-hydrogenated vegetable oils (<3g of fat/sv) | Unsalted crackers and plain rice cakes containing non-hydrogenated vegetable oils and palm or palm kernel oils | >3g of fat/sv and/or containing coconut oil or hydrogenated vegetable oils |
| Muffins, cookies and baked goods | Products made with whole grains and non-hydrogenated vegetable oils | Products made with refined grains and non-hydrogenated vegetable oils, palm or palm kernel oils | Products made with shortening, lard, suet or butter. Cream-filled cookies short bread, pastries, pies, doughnuts, sweet rolls, fast food muffins |
≥ greater than or equal to,
≤ less than or equal to,
< less than,
> greater than
sv = serving