By Jillian Dewar

When one looks at a simple grain of wheat it is hard to imagine the culinary wonders that result from its processing into the flour products we enjoy everyday! Wheat is a type of grass grown all over the world for its highly nutritious and useful grain. Wheat is an annual, which means that at the end of each year, fields must be ploughed and prepared again to grow the grass. It is one of the top three most produced crops in the world, along with corn and rice. Wheat has been cultivated for over 10,000 years and probably originates in the Fertile Crescent, along with other staple crops.

In terms of the parts of the grain or “wheat berry” (the grass fruit) used in flour-the endosperm or starchy part, the germ or protein part, and the bran or fibre part-there are three general types of flour. White flour is made from the endosperm only. Whole grain or wholemeal flour is made from the entire grain, including bran, endosperm, and germ. A germ flour is made from the endosperm and germ, excluding the bran.

The word “flour” was originally a variant of the word “flower”. Both derive from the Old French fleur or flour, which had the literal meaning “blossom”, and a figurative meaning “the finest”. The phrase “fleur de farine” meant “the finest part of the meal”, since flour resulted from the elimination of coarse and unwanted matter from the grain during the milling process.

The milling process

Flour milling predates agricultural production and is the oldest of the fully automated food processes. NAMILCO is Guyana’s only milling company producing a wide range of top quality, factory fresh flour products for local consumption and export.

The company imports wheat from the United States of America and Canada. It arrives in Guyana by ship or barge and is off-loaded at the mill’s jetty. Here it is discharged using huge vacuum pipes from the cargo hold of the vessel. The wheat is then transferred to a chain conveyor which carries it to the mill’s silos.

Before the milling process begins the wheat is cleaned, scoured and tempered. In the Tempering Process the moisture content of the wheat is increased to the optimum condition for milling. After the wheat has been in the tempering bins for up to 24 hours (depending upon variety), the milling process begins.

As it enters the mill, wheat is first processed in the Break System. This consists of a series of corrugated steel break rollers which crush the wheat and gradually scrape the endosperm from the bran resulting in Middlings. The finer fractions of the middlings are graded in the sifting process by size and are sent on to the Purification System. Here machines called Purifiers take out as much of the bran particles as possible in the interest of producing the whitest flour. The results are then fed to the Reduction System. This contains a series of smooth steel rollers through which the purified middlings are fed, according to their particle size and purity.

After each reduction passage the resulting flour is removed by sifting in the final stage of the process called the Flour Dressing System. In this system the ground stocks are separated on finely-woven nylon seives in machines called Plansifiers. Any material not fine enough to sift through as flour is sent back to the appropriate part of the system for further processing. The whitest flours are made from the purest stocks of the early passages through the reduction system. Approximately 75% of the wheat is recovered as flour. The remainder gives us by-products of the milling process called Millfeeds. They are used as animal food. Another by-product is wheat germ – the embryo of the wheat seed, which is often produced for human consumption as it is valued for its health benefits being rich in B vitamins, vitamin E and protein.

Enriching Flour, Enriching Lives

Fortification of NAMILCO flour products is seen by National Milling as an important public service – of which most of us are not even aware. Approximately 2 billion people throughout the world suffer from “hidden hunger” – that is they lack important nutrients in their diet which would enable them to function to their full capacities at work and play. Flour enrichment and fortification play key roles in correcting these deficiencies, restoring health and economic growth to nations, through boosting the nutrient levels in flour.

During the milling process some of the valuable nutrients present in wheat are partially lost with the removal of the bran in the refining process. Milling companies in Caricom countries, including NAMILCO in Guyana, follow the Caricom Flour Standard which mandates the addition of certain vitamins and minerals during the milling process. These are Thiamin (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Niacin, Ascorbic Acid (vitamin C) and Iron.

In addition NAMILCO voluntarily fortifies its flour with folic acid, as the company recognises the importance of this nutrient to the population. Naturally occurring folate is found only in small amounts in wheat. Folic acid is a synthetic form of folate which is used in food fortification and is more easily absorbed by the body than natural folate.  Folic acid has been proven to be of value to all members of the population from conception to old age. It is known that about 75% of all neural tube defects in newborns can be prevented by the timely administration of folic acid to women before and during pregnancy. Further, positive effects of folic acid are also being discussed in connection with the prevention of hare lip, cleft jaw and cleft palate.

Folic acid also plays an important role in preventing cardiovascular disease and may playa role in the minimization of the risk of certain forms of cancer. Recent findings have shown that the use of folic acid has also proved effective in treating cognitive disorders of old age such as depression and Alzheimer’s disease.

But why choose flour as
a medium of fortification?

NAMILCO Flour is consumed by almost all Guyanese in large quantities in a wide range of foods such as roti, bread, cookies, chow mein, pasta, macaroni, biscuits, dumplings etc. In this way the general population can easily and inexpensively receive their critical vitamins and minerals by eating their normal food. The flour mill therefore is the logical location of choice to perform fortification because of its large scale production, technical knowledge, skills and expertise of millers and its ability to ensure regular supply to various end users. Fortification also provides increased value of NAMILCO flour to the consumer as it would cost more to receive these vital vitamins in any other way.

NAMILCO believes that flour fortification ensures that generations of Guyanese children will grow up smarter and stronger than their parents before them, able to build a better life for themselves and their families. This is a valuable contribution that the company is proud of and can make each and every day to Guyana.