If you’re like me you may have been looking for some tasty, whole grain/high fiber baked goods that won’t break the bank. And, if you’re like me, you may have missed the products from Toufayan Bakeries because, frankly, their merchandisers aren’t doing that great a job getting their product in prime shelf space at the supermarket. I regularly shop at a 24-hour discount market that carries a lot of bulk sizes, staples, big selection of frozen meats, etc. and they have a display of tortillas all from one brand. They occasionally will have a few “low carb” tortillas that achieve their low carb status partly by being smaller. The brand has whole wheat tortillas, but the store almost never has them. And the prices for both are higher than the regular ones.
Last week, I happened to look at their bakery racks, mostly full of bread from their own bakery to see if they had any whole grain rye. They did, but I ended up not buying it when I saw Toufayan’s whole wheat pitas on the next rack for less than $2 for a pack of 5. I bought them and they were fantastic! These were actually the first whole grain pitas I’d seen in the area (Joplin, MO MSA population 172, 933).
After I finished off the pitas, I went back and bought three packages of their wraps - Tomato, Spinach and Whole Wheat. So far, I’ve only tried the tomato, but again - fantastic. They taste great. They have a great texture, definitely not “cardboard,” despite having a decent amount of fiber. And again, the price was right, at less than $1.75 for a pack of 5. And these are big wraps - 10″ - not the baby tortillas.
On the health front, a few comments. I’ve seen two different recommendations on what to look for in baked goods for maximum health benefit. Several sources said that “whole grain,” “whole wheat,” etc. need to be the first ingredient in the list. On this count, only the whole wheat wraps make the grade, though all of them do have whole wheat flour as an ingredient. The spinach and tomato wraps have 12g of whole grain while the whole wheat have 30g, so the difference is clearly refined grain. Not really good, but…all of them have 3 g of fiber per serving (1 wrap). This is the other thing that several sources said to look for. Dr. Arthur Agatston’s The South Beach Diet Super Charged says, “be sure the label says ‘100% whole wheat’ or ‘whole grain,’ and look for breads that contain 3 grams or more of fiber per slice.” If you’re in Phase 2 of the South Beach Diet or similar, the flavored wraps might have to wait. But with plenty of fiber, relatively low calories, no trans fats or cholesterol, 6g of protein per serving and low sugar (1-2g per serving) I’m more than willing to take these as a healthy alternative to bread for making convenient lunches. And again, the whole wheat wraps and whole wheat pitas do have much more whole grain and more fiber.
You can find the products with the store locator on the company website.
