To those interested, Raw cereal starch is very slowly digested by human intestinal enzymes and also by the bacteria that cause dental caries. We human beings over the years in our quest for more and more palatable food, have coincidentally increased the rate of starch digestion in cereals by grinding (into flour) and cooking and more recently by processes such as extrusion cooking (all the funny little shapes you find in snack foods and breakfast cereals mean extrusion cooking has been used). Recent research indicates that these quickly digested starches are more likely to cause dental caries than slowly digested starches. In fact they are just as effective as the sugars in reducing the dental plaque pH. One reference is: Lingstrom P, Holm J, Birkhed D, Bjorck I. Effects of variously processed starch on pH of human dental plaque. Scan J Dent Res, 1989, 97 : 392-400. Best wishes Jennie Assoc. Professor Jennie Brand Miller Human Nutrition Unit, Dept. of Biochemistry G08 University of Sydney, 2006, Australia [log in to unmask] FAX: 61.2.9351.6022 Ph: 61.2.9351.3759