The Scoop on Brown Rice

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What exactly is brown rice? Well, first of all, brown rice isn’t always brown.

“We say ‘brown rice’ when we mean ‘whole-grain rice,’ ” said Cynthia Harriman, a spokeswoman and nutrition educator for the Oldways food-issues think tank and the Whole Grains Council. Brown rice actually comes in a lot of colors, she said, including red and black, the latter of which also is known as forbidden rice.

According to a definition from the USA Rice Federation, brown rice is rice with only the hull removed. The color comes from the kernel’s bran layers, which carry vitamins, minerals and fiber.

It was last month that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration decided that brown rice can carry a “whole-grain” designation, although the fact that it hadn’t been included in an earlier ruling was a technicality, Harriman said, that basically had to do with wording. The designation is important because it makes it easier for consumers to know that brown rice can help them meet one dietary goal.

“In 2005, there was a dietary guidelines recommendation to increase our whole grains,” said Anne Banville, spokeswoman for the USA Rice Federation. “That really is what has given the big push to whole grains. Any authoritative source agrees we all need to get more whole grains in our diet.”

Among the reasons, Harriman said, is that diets rich in whole grains and low in fat have been shown to contribute to heart health. And brown rice is rich in vitamin E, which is an antioxidant that has been linked to protecting cells from cancer, heart disease and cataracts, according to the federation.

A plus for brown rice is that it’s familiar to most people, even if, as Harriman said, “people have traditionally thought of brown rice as a hippie food; eat a bit and you’ll burst out singing ‘Kumbaya’ or something like that.”

But, she said, it has become both more sophisticated — as in the red, black and other varieties that are being showcased in high-end restaurants — and more familiar. In addition to the supermarket-staple long-grain, brown varieties including jasmine and basmati are showing up in local stores.

“We’re seeing most whole-grain food go away from this hippie image, and also this dichotomy between foods that taste good and foods that are good for you,” she said. “You shouldn’t have to hold your nose and eat things because they’re good for you. There are delicious things out there, and brown rice is just one of them.”

“It’s a familiar whole grain,” said Banville. “It’s not that big of a leap; people can even pronounce it.” Some people, she said — particularly moms with recalcitrant kids — mix white and brown rice to make the latter more familiar.

Brown rice also is showing up in more convenient forms. Because the bran layers resist heat and moisture, long-grain brown rice takes 45 to 50 minutes to cook, compared to about 14 for white (although Harriman said one red variety takes 20 minutes). But, as Harriman noted, there’s “lots going on in the brown-rice area.” Uncle Ben’s and Minute Rice have introduced precooked brown rice in cups that heat in the microwave in 90 seconds in the case of Uncle Ben’s, 60 for Minute Rice (true to its name).

Banville said the new products are helping to propel double-digit annual increases — such as 20 percent last year — in U.S. consumption of brown rice.

“There’s a whole bunch of products out there that weren’t five or eight years ago, and consumers are really going for them,” she said.

Special diets also are fueling the increase.

“Last year, when everybody was crazy about the South Beach Diet, brown rice was one of the few carb foods that the South Beach Diet permitted once you got past the initial phase,” Banville said.

Commercial outlets also have made brown rice more familiar to consumers. Banville said the federation works with Disney World in Orlando, Fla., which has increased its menu offerings.

And Harriman, in confirming that brown rice has become “much more mainstream,” noted that at outlets of the P.F. Chang’s chain, “they come to the table and instead of slapping down the white rice and making you beg for the brown rice, they take your order and ask.”

Laura Cherry, a spokeswoman for P.F. Chang’s, said that last year the chain and its Pei Wei concept served 12 million pounds of white rice and 10 million pounds of brown.

“Every year the amount of brown rice requested seems to go up,” she said, adding that that holds true for both concepts.

Which just makes sense to Harriman.

“If you serve it,” she said, “they will come.”

Source:
http://www.lvrj.com/
HEIDI KNAPP RINELLA

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