Did you know that Merriam-Webster selects a word of the year annually? The term they identified most on people’s minds for 2023 was “authentic.” While the world at large googled the word in response to AI, social media, and celebrity influence, consumers in the food industry searched for authenticity in the form of less processed, more nutritious, clean-label foods. Consumers are ever more conscious and curious about where their food comes from, what’s in it, and how it is produced. We believe whole-food, nutrient-dense ingredients will lead the way in 2024, and change the food system game for the better.

While authentic foods for wellness are top of mind for many consumers, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and digestive issues are at an all-time high. The food industry is tasked to help alleviate these health issues in impactful ways, however, we as an industry face several challenges. North American consumers are not changing habits and getting healthier, and often prefer inexpensive convenient processed foods to fruits, vegetables, and nutrient-dense foods. “We’re always hoping for a magic bullet,” says Dr. Chris Damman, a board-certified gastroenterologist at the Digestive Health Center at the University of Washington Medical Center and associate professor of Gastroenterology and Medicine.

We have learned that the Keto approach to dieting is oversimplified, and not affordable, or sustainable. Education in the complex areas of nutrition and health is low while social media and misinformation create further confusion. Sadly, consumers are turning to quick fixes such as supplements and drugs like Ozempic, which is designed to manage diabetes and not meant for long-term use by the average consumer (and also not affordable for most).

Dr. Damman notes that as a global community, we need to reflect on the cause of our expanding waistlines and array of health issues. He thinks that focusing on the gut makes a lot of sense. “It’s not just a trend or fad, the gut is central to our overall health and wellness. It’s where nutrients are digested and absorbed,” he says. In a recent podcast, Dr. Damman noted, “Recent scientific research underscores the profound impact of our dietary choices on not only our physical health but also our emotional and social well-being. At the heart of this connection lies the impact of food on our gut microbiome. This microscopic community residing within our intestines has a remarkable capacity to transform indigestible food components like fiber into signals that regulate metabolism and immunity.” Dr. Damman believes we need to find creative ways to get more fiber into our diets.

Did you know that only 5% of Americans get the recommended daily amount of daily fiber needed for optimal gut and immune health? However, nearly 80% of Americans are trying to consume more fiber, or are aware of the need to consume more fiber in their diet. Fiber is essential to a range of essential health benefits such as gut health, blood sugar control, heart health, immunity, and weight management.

Bay State Milling is a 5th generation family-owned plant-based ingredient company based in Greater Boston.  With their 125-year heritage in flour milling, they know a thing or two about what customers and consumers of flour and flour-based foods need. Given that Americans consume approximately 130 pounds of wheat flour per person annually (more than any other food source), they concluded that Americans need a healthier wheat flour.  

To that end, they have chosen to revolutionize the food system with a breakthrough refined wheat flour that delivers ten times the fiber of traditional wheat flour, and they call it HealthSense® high fiber wheat flour. The company has accomplished this by cultivating a unique variety of wheat that simply has more naturally occurring amylose in the starchy endosperm-the part of the wheat kernel from which white flour is produced.  Amylose is referred to as resistant starch, as it resists digestion in the small intestine and therefore acts as prebiotic dietary fiber which feeds the good bacteria in the gut, producing the health benefits noted above.   

Perhaps the most remarkable attribute of this agricultural innovation, is that it remains functional white flour and can be used in any wheat-based food without sacrificing taste or baking performance - and it labels simply and cleanly as wheat flour. HealthSense wheat is grown by family farmers across the US, and is non-GMO.

Innovation and quality are the cornerstones of Bay State Milling’s business. The company has always had an eye for doing something different-from pioneering destination milling, to diversifying into non-wheat, gluten-free, flours, ancient grains, and edible seeds and ultimately launching innovative varietal-specific nutrient-dense ingredients such as their HealthSense high-fiber wheat and SowNaked® high-protein oats. They have built a robust innovation capability that seeks out problems customers need to solve and builds businesses around the products or ingredients that solve them. 

At Branchfood we partner with forward-thinking companies that are creating game changing solutions for the food system to improve human health. Healthsense high fiber wheat flour can transform the nutrition of breads, muffins, bagels, pasta, tortillas, and pizza crusts, while delivering the delicious flavor and texture you expect from a wheat-based food, without challenging traditional manufacturing operations. “HealthSense is easy to run through our production equipment, very similar to regular Hard Red Spring wheat flour. We find that the end product quality is above our standard Spring Wheat products, closer to Semolina in texture and cooking qualities. We highly recommend anyone looking to increase the health benefits in food, give HealthSense a try!,” says Gwen Kessler, President at Abbiamo Pasta Company, a contract manufacturer of pasta products made with HealthSense.

Healthsense is a game changing ingredient and Fast Company awarded it a World Changing Idea. It's not just an idea or concept-it is a real ingredient available to manufacturers today to solve the nutrition/taste compromise conundrum. It is currently used in some of the top brands, and challenger brands, of staples such as pasta, tortillas and even macaroni and cheese on the retail shelves and the tables of casual restaurants.

At Bay State Milling, they believe all wheat flour should be high-fiber wheat flour. If at least 50% of the flour used in wheat-based foods was high-fiber wheat, and we changed nothing else in our diets, we would close the fiber gap for consumers which could have a major public health impact. That’s why they chose “game changer" for their word this year. Join us in recognizing this game changing ingredient.

If you would like to learn more about HealthSense, please contact Bay State Milling.