Revant Himatsingka aka Food Pharma, the social media influencer who drew attention to Bournvita’s high sugar content, prompting a legal notice against it by Cadbury, has now decided to focus on whether brown and multigrain bread is really a healthier option compared to white bread.
“Bread in India is a big joke!” Himatsingka said. “There are two types of bread in India. One that is openly unhealthy (white bread) and the other type (brown, multigrain, wholegrain) that pretends to be healthy when it isn’t!”
Himatsingka added on Twitter that bread consumption has increased significantly over the past few decades, exacerbating the problems caused by eating bread.
“Just a few decades ago, bread was not that common in India. But now Indians use it regularly for breakfast sandwiches, school pancakes and snacks!” tweeted Food Pharma. “If you have 2 slices of bread a day, you have more than 700 slices in a year. Make sure you choose the right one!”
Explaining that white bread consists of maida or refined flour, which has very little nutritional value, he said, “Maida is made by polishing wheat, which removes the layers of fiber.”
Bread in India is a big joke! There are two types of bread in India. One that is openly unhealthy (white bread) and the other type (brown, multigrain, wholegrain) that pretends to be healthy when it isn’t!
Even a few decades ago, bread was not that common in India. But now… pic.twitter.com/8yOQsG7jKn
— Revant Himatsingka “The Food Pharmer” (@thefoodpharmer) July 22, 2023
“Brown bread in India is also not healthy,” Himatsingka said in his video, which shows how the brown color of the bread is achieved through dye and not because it is made from wheat flour. “They are brown because of the caramel color 150A. This caramel color is similar to the color of Coca Cola and Bournvita.”
As for the third variety – multi-grain bread – the food influencer said that it wasn’t just made from wheat flour either. “According to FSSAI, ingredients are listed in order of weight. Most whole wheat breads have maida as the first ingredient and use very less whole wheat.” He then pointed out that a particular variety of whole wheat bread had only 20 percent whole wheat.
“They just add some whole wheat so they can call themselves whole wheat bread,” Revant Himatsingka said. “Multigrain bread also doesn’t mean it’s healthy. It just means it has more than one grain. Most multigrain breads in India are also mainly made up of maida,” he added, pointing to a particular brand of bread that has more maida than wheat flour, as refined flour was mentioned first in the ingredient list.
Advising people to opt for wheat flour rotis instead of bread, the Food Pharmer added that if people want to continue eating processed bread, they should check the ingredients listed on the package and avoid varieties that contain maida, palm oil and preservatives, such as those available from local bakers.