Enriched (Enriched Flour)
Definition
A labeling term indicating that nutrients (typically B vitamins and iron) have been added back to a refined grain product after the milling process stripped them out. 'Enriched' flour has had its bran, germ, and fiber removed, then had a fraction of the original nutrients synthetically reintroduced.
Why It Matters
'Enriched' sounds beneficial but actually signals heavy processing. Whole wheat contains ~30 naturally occurring nutrients; enriched flour adds back only 5 of them in synthetic form. The body absorbs synthetic vitamins differently from food-matrix-bound nutrients. For example, folic acid (synthetic) used in enriched flour is not metabolized the same as naturally occurring folate, especially in people with MTHFR gene variants (~40% of the population).