Tech Makes Switch to Healthy Flour

Virginia Tech’s Dining Services has introduced T2 flour, which is high in whole grains and makes some foods in the student dining centers more nutritious. T1 is a 1:1 replacement for traditional white flour with 30 percent Ultragrain and 70 percent refined flour. T2 has 55 percent Ultragrain and 45 percent refined flour.

T2 is being used in breads, rolls, pastries, and assorted cookies. The flour use is a response to student requests for a wider variety of nutritious options. During the fall 2009 semester, the T2 flour was piloted in various bakery items and taste-tested by student employees and managers.

The brand-new baking ingredient consists of white flour with whole-wheat properties, so the texture and flavor of the final products remain unchanged, yet the high whole grain content helps provide students with more fiber in their diet.

Says Ted Faulkner, associate director of Dining Services, “A diet rich in fiber has many benefits.” University cooks hope they hope to incorporate T2 flour in fresh pizza dough, a popular item with students. “By making minor adjustments to some of our existing bakeshop recipes we were able to convert to T2 flour. The switch was easy,” says Kendall Holliday, pastry chef at Southgate Food Processing.

Items including T2 flour can be found in the bread bowls at Owens Food Court; the baguettes from Blue Ridge BBQ at Hokie Grill & Co.; the bread bowls and the oatmeal bar at Deet’s Place; the cookies at Vet Med Café; and in the donuts, cake, pastries, and the Yes To Go products at DXpress, Hokie Grill & Co., and Shultz Express.