New Study Showing Increase in Gluten Sensitivity

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If you will look at the label on a loaf of ordinary bread, you will see the ingredients listed as, (usually), Bleached Enriched Flour, (Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour), plus a long, long list of "enriching" additives. Interestingly, I don't see wheat gluten listed, (I expected to see added wheat gluten), but soy is there, (naturally) - however, I notice that wheat gluten is listed on a package of hot dog buns, (as a part of a yeast mixture).

As Mary Beth pointed out, up until the 1960s, in this part of the world, we had only one practical choice for wheat seed. The variety was called Sturdy wheat, and the quality was quite good, (better milling quality than the wheat we grow around here now), but the yield was typically about two-thirds of what could be expected from the varieties that were introduced in the 1960s, and about half the yield potential of the varieties introduced, (mostly from A&M foundation stock), in the 1970s. With the higher yields, the profit potential increased, of course, so the acreage really skyrocketed around here. (Of course, in Kansas, where wheat has always been the main crop, the acreage couldn't change much, because most acres were already planted to wheat). Before Dr. Borlaug came along, it was totally impractical to attempt to grow wheat south of the latitude at which I live, (it wouldn't yield, because it wouldn't vernalize) - now, wheat can be grown practically anywhere in the world. Vernalization involves accumulating enough hours of exposure to sufficiently low temperatures, to allow the plant to progress to the stages of maturity necessary for seed production. Basically, Dr. Bolaug "bred out" those vernalization requirements, so that wheat will produce seed, even without cold winter temperatures. (That was the basis of a lot of the criticism, but that's another story).

Here's the part that confuses me, though: Everyone in the baking industry seems to claim that the gluten fraction of wheat has been steadily increasing over the years, in order to improve the baking qualities of bread. Now I have been growing wheat on a commercial basis for over 40 years, and the varieties that we plant now, generally have lower milling quality than the varieties that we planted previously. Anytime you boost some desirable quality in plants, by selective breeding, you almost always have to trade off some other quality. In general, every time the yield potential has been increased, the milling quality has gone down, (the wheat is softer, has lower bushel weight, and often the protein content is slightly decreased). During these past 40 years or so, the primary goals of selective breeding in wheat have been, (in order of importance), yield potential, uniformity, stalk strength, easy threshing qualities, and last on the list, (IMO), milling quality, (of course, certain minimum standards for milling quality have to be met, but over the years, the standards have been relaxed, because milling processes and equipment have been improved, so that lower quality wheat can be utilized. The same thing has happened in the corn industry. The food corn varieties available now, won't hold a candle to the food corn varieties that were available in the 1960s, (as far as grain quality and milling characteristics are concened), and the shortfall has been overcome by advances in processing methods.

The info I'm posting here is not from some information site, it's from my experience, actually growing wheat. Trust me, when a farmer goes to buy wheat seed, he is primarily focused on profit potential per acre, and that means maximum yields. Protein content only enters into the equation if there is a price dock, or a cutoff point at the market, (the grain elevator). If the gluten fraction of wheat has increased over the years, it has increased mostly as a result of "lucky" coincidence, because wheat produces don't give a hoot about the gluten fraction of wheat - they plant the variety that they believe will offer the highest profit potential, given the current growing and marketing considerations, whether that variety was bred 50 years ago, or yesterday. Many of those old varieties are still available, but hardly anyone plants them, because they are so uncompetitive, from a yield standpoint.

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