Primary Food Processing - Flour
Primary processing involves converting raw foods into foods that can be eaten, cooked, or into ready-to-use ingredients. We produce flour from wheat grains.
Process
- A wheat grain is made up of a bran, germ and endosperm.
- We first harvest wheat grains, then clean them to get rid of any stones or dust.
- To prevent mould growth, we store the grains somewhere dry.
- We place the grains into a hopper to crush the grains. The hopper crushes the grains between its rollers.
Process (continued)
- The type of flour we get depends on how we sieve the grain or what parts we remove:
- Wholemeal flour: nothing is removed - made from 100% grain.
- Wheatmeal flour: some of the germ and bran are taken out. Made from approximately 85% grain.
- White flour: made from endosperm only. Made from approximately 70% grain.
B vitamins
- B vitamins must be added back into white flour as they're lost during production.
Eatwell Guide
- According to the Eatwell Guide, we should consume wholemeal products where possible for the nutritional benefits they provide.
