New Data Refutes Critics Claims that Modern Wheat Altered by Agriculture

New research led by Dr. Ravindra Chibbar and Dr. Pierre Hucl at the University of Saskatchewan, and published in the peer reviewed journal, Cereal Chemistry indicates that the nutritional composition of modern wheat is similar to that grown in the 1860’s.

The team cultivated seeds from 37 varieties of wheat representing grain grown in each of the decades from the 1860’s to today, and compared each variety’s nutritional composition to modern Canada Western Red Spring wheat in field trials throughout 2013 and 2014, finding little change.

These findings refute claims by critics that the nutritional profile of modern wheat has been altered by the agricultural industry. The research shows that while grain yields have increased significantly over the past century, the increase in the total grain protein concentration – including gluten, has been marginal at approximately 1%. Researchers argue that this demonstrates that the overall nutritional composition of wheat grain has seen little change in 150 years.

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