Barley Food

In countries and cultures around the world, barley has been an important food for many centuries. Although only a small portion of Canada’s annual barley crop makes it way into cereal bowls or onto dinner plates, that’s expected to change.

Barley’s great taste, versatility and nutritional content (see below) are finding new champions all the time. Oprah Winfrey’s website ranks barley and barley grass in its list of top 10 superfoods.

Plus, the Alberta Barley Commission supports a number of research projects to promote and encourage the use of barley in foods, especially baked goods, health foods and functional foods.

Each year the Commission sponsors a Barley Baking Contest at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Many of the recipes developed by students are included in our library of barley recipes.

As well, the Commission is part of a Canada-wide coalition that has asked Health Canada to approve a health claim for barley. Such a claim would be similar to an approval issued by the United States Food and Drug Administration in 2005. Foods containing barley can now state they reduce the risk of coronary disease. (See story below.)

Barley’s taste
Barley has a rich nutty taste. It’s high beta glucan content gives the whole grain a chewy texture similar to al dente pasta. When cooked with other foods barley readily absorbs their flavours (and three to four times its weight in moisture), which is why barley is used often in stews and soups.

Barley’s versatility
Barley can be hulled (or dehulled) to remove its outer coating and eaten as a whole grain. Whole-grain barley requires considerable soaking and cooking but contains the most nutrients and texture (chewiness).

Barley can be milling to produce barley flour, flakes (similar to rolled oats) and bran. The seed kernel is crushed and the outer part of the kernel (bran) is removed from the inner part (the endosperm, where food is stored to nourish a new plant). The endosperm is then ground into flour or flattened into flakes. Because barley has a low gluten content, it is often mixed with wheat flour for use in baked goods and breads.

Barley grain can be polished, or pearled, to make pot and pearl barley. The polishing removes the inedible hull from the kernel. Pearl barley is a bit smaller than pot barley because it is polished more. The more grain that is removed in polishing, the more nutrients are removed. Pearl barley is also used in Japan to make Shochu, a popular distilled drink.

Malt extract is used around the world in many foods (from cookies and cakes to beverages and baby foods) to enhance flavour, colour, fermentation and aroma as well as improve texture and shelf-life and enrich nutritional content.

Malted barley is also used in beer and spirits. Sprouted barley – which produced a sugar called maltose -- can be used in salads.

Barley grits are toasted and cracked hulled, dehulled or pearl barley that look very much like wheat bulghur. Grits can be used in cerals, breads, baked good and salads.

Roasted barley is used to make a hot beverage, often as an alternative to coffee.

In Alberta, you can buy:

• barley flour from most major grocery stores and health food stores
• pot and pearl barley at most grocery stores and health food stores
• barley malt in some grocery or specialty stores, check the baking aisle.

For more about food barley, visit:

The World’s Healthiest Foods
Gramene
Barley World
Barley Foods

Barley’s nutritional content
Whole grain barley is packed with nutritients, making it:

Source: USDA

Health claim
The Alberta Barley Commission is working to put Canadian barley on the same nutritional plane as American barley.

In 2005, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved a health claim stating barley reduces the risk of coronary disease. As well, the soluble fibre in barley -- and barley products such as barley flakes, grits, flour and meal -- is a key ingredient in reducing cholesterol and assisting in weight control.

Barley also contains natural antioxidants and a low glycemic index and has a great nutty flavor and a wonderful aroma when baked. And because of its water retaining capability, barley holds more liquid than other flours, helping baked goods stay moist and fresher for longer.

Since then the Commission been working with a cross-Canada coalition to have a health claim approved for Canadian barley. Such a claim would also put barley on par with another heart-smart grain: oats. Both grains and their soluble fibre extracts have beneficial effects on glucose tolerance, especially, says the FDA, with regard to the magnitude of postpranial glucose and insulin. 

At the time of the U.S. approval, Dr. Nancy Ames of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Cereal Research Centre in Winnipeg said it was long awaited “for those of us working on barley as a food that will now put the health benefits of barley on an equal playing field with oats."

Since then, Ames has coordinated much of the literature search and research needed to substantiate the Canadian claim. The claim had been submitted to Health Canada by a coalition of industry groups across the country, including the Commission.

The goal is to see more barley used more widely in more foods. Currently, only a small percentage of Canada’s barley crop makes it directly to our tabletops.

“We’d like to see that change,” Commission CEO Mike Leslie says. “Barley has a lot to offer especially to people looking for ‘functional foods’ that have benefits to health and wellness.”

Canadian Food Barley

The focus of this website is on the use of barley in food rather than the traditional use in livestock feed or in beer making. While food use of barley is not new, it is a tiny proportion of total barley use. This is changing however, as the nutritional value of barley is understood and communicated to consumers. An increasing number of food companies are discovering how to formulate foods to include barley and get a boost in nutrition. And that nutrition boost is real! The Food & Drug Administration in the USA approved a health claim for barley beta glucan (soluble fibre), equivalent to oats, in 2006... which simply means, barley is good for you - especially as a whole grain.

This website is an initiative of the Canadian International Grains Institute and the Alberta Food Processing Development Centre who have partnered to promote the use of Canadian barley in foods.

US health claim

On December 23, 2005 the Food and Drug Administration in the United States (US) approved a health claim for barley products such as whole barley and barley flakes, grits, flour and meal. Product labels can now inform consumers in the US that barley plays a role in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. 

2005 was also dubbed the Year of the Whole Grain, and consumer interest in whole grain products continues to grow every year. Barley has a number of health and sensory benefits that may interest your consumers. Barley products:

What does the USDA approval mean for barley?

For further details on the FDA US health claim regulations, view this file.