Whole Grain Food Products: Knowledge, Availability and Consumption in Oman

Aims: To assess the consumption, willingness to consume, availability and knowledge of people about the whole grain food products across the Sultanate of Oman. Methods: A self-administered survey was conducted among a convenience sample of adults to assess the consumption, willingness to consume, availability and knowledge about whole grain products across all the nine Governorates of Oman. Results: Almost all respondents (99%, n = 1891) reported that they consume rice and bread at least 4 days per week. Less than 5% of adults indicated that they consume brown rice, whereas 20% to 90% consume whole grain bread. Forty percent of the respondents indicated that they did not know, which type of bread or rice either white or brown, is healthier. Only 20% to 30% of the respondents reported that brown rice or whole wheat bread was available in the market all the time. The various indexes (0 to 1, where 0 as nil and 1 as maximum) developed based on the survey results for the availability, knowledge and willingness to consume whole grain products were 0.36 to 0.87, 0.35 to 0.64 and 0.51 to 0.57 respectively, in different Governorates of Oman. Conclusion: The results indicated that there is an urgent need to educate the Omani people about the nutritional and health benefits of consuming whole grain products and to improve the availability of whole grain food products across Oman.