USDA has asked us to facilitate some conversations with foodservice industry members regarding whole grain-rich formulations and school meal standards. This is an important opportunity to have a voice in the policy making process! There will be two discussion sessions:

New research from the WGC team, published last month in Nutrients, demonstrates just how much progress there has been in making whole grain options more accessible in both US and Latin American markets.

In this session, titled, "Communicating Whole Grain Content to Shoppers: What Food Makers Need to Know," WGC experts will share insights from a newly-published study, dive into survey data findings about what product attributes are most important to consumers, and offer a brief overview of the regulatory differences in whole grain labeling across a few key markets.

The Whole Grain Initiative has published a global consensus definition for whole grain as an ingredient and for whole grain foods. The new definition promotes uniformity and consistency and will serve as the basis for advocacy efforts to standardize whole grain definitions. WGI encourages the adoption of these definitions by national and regional authoritative bodies, as well as by industry.