Canadian school nutrition program focused whole grain pizza uses Wheat Wise® Whole Grain Pizza Mix
“Make half of your grains whole” is great food advice. It’s also backed by Canada’s Food Guide. The food industry is paying attention and making whole-grain foods both available and more appealing. With pizza, it’s easy for manufacturers, pizza retailers and consumers to transition to a whole grain crust. Ardent Mills developed a delicious and easy-to-use Wheat Wise® Whole Grain Pizza Mix to include whole grains along with less sugar and lower sodium and fat.
Servicing the foodservice industry in Canada requires addressing the needs of school nutrition programs. As pizza has long been a kid-friendly food item, it makes sense to target pizza crust for nutritional reformulation. According to recommendations from Canada’s Food Guide, whole grains should make up at least half of all grain products eaten each day by students. In fact, in the School Nutrition Program Handbook, the first item listed under Planning Meals with Grain Products is “choose items that list whole grains as the first or second ingredient.” The second line recommends choosing “items that say “low in fat,” “trans fat free,” “lower in salt,” or “source of fibre.”1
Nutritional benefits of Ardent Mills' Pizza Mix:
- Source of Fibre (fiber)
- Free of Cholesterol
- Low in Fat
- Excellent Source of Folate
- Good Source of Iron
- Low in Sodium
- Low in Saturated Fats
- No Trans Fats
- 100% Whole grain
The Ardent Mills Product Development Team already knew how to make great tasting pizza dough so they addressed the nutritional requirements early in the development process. Wheat Wise® Whole Grain Pizza Mix was specially developed with whole grains, less sugar and low in sodium and fat to meet the strict nutritional standards set by school boards in Canada. Before any other needs were met, Ardent Mills' technical team made sure this whole grain pizza mix tasted great. According to Elaine O’Doherty, Marketing Manager for Ardent Mills, “If you are focused on school-aged kids and satisfying school nutrition programs, you can’t have “healthy” without delicious. Ardent Mills supports Canada’s foodservice, bakery and food manufacturing markets with quality flour, oats and baking products, and innovative consumer oriented products like Wheat Wise® Whole Grain Pizza Mix.
1 Source: School Meal and School Nutrition Program Handbook, British Columbia, 2009