Nestle Breakfast Cereals announces its support to International Whole Grain Day

Nestlé Breakfast Cereals, announced its support to the International Whole Grain Day which aims to highlight the positive impact of whole grain on nutrition, health, wellbeing, and sustainability. The event held yesterday at the European Parliament in Brussels, has announced 19th of November as the first-ever International World Whole Grain Day.

This initiative is calling governments to prioritise whole grain in their national dietary guidelines and to help populations to increase their whole grain intakes worldwide for healthier lives and a healthier planet. The event will look at how policymakers encourage more people to introduce whole grain into their diet. 

“We passionately believe in the power of whole grains. Studies show that people who regularly eat whole grains reduce their risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.” Said Olivier Degiorgis, Business Executive Officer, Nestlé Breakfast Cereals in the Middle East.

“In Middle East, we have always supported wholegrain from the start. We have consistently increased wholegrain content in our cereals since 2008 and we are committed to ensuring wholegrain is our number 1 ingredient .Our most recent reformulation has resulted in a 60% wholegrain increase while reducing sugar by 30%.” Added Degiorgis.

Despite the benefits, only a few countries such as the USA, Netherlands and Denmark – have a quantitative recommendation for whole grain. The USA recommends a minimum of three servings per day (equating to at least 48g). In a comment piece in the medical journal Lancet, Prof Gary Frost from Imperial College London said the analysis “provides compelling evidence that dietary fibre and whole grain are major determinants of numerous health outcomes and should form part of public health policy”.

A recent survey done in KSA and UAE by Nestlé Breakfast Cereals shows that 86%[1] of people in both countries do not know how many grams of whole grain they should be eating a day. For example, the 50% of people surveyed in Saudi Arabia think they don’t understand the benefit of wholegrain while 39% surveyed in UAE don’t know which foods they can find it in.

Commenting on how you can consume more wholegrain in your daily diet, Sarah Kanaan, Nutrition, Health & Wellness Manager at Nestlé Middle East said that opting for wholegrain breakfast cereals, choosing wholegrain bread instead of white bread and switching to wholegrain rice and pasta can help consumers significantly increase their wholegrain intake.