Farina: the plain wheat cereal that trials use as a control

Farina turns up in research mostly as the plain bowl other cereals are measured against. In a 6-week trial with 156 adults with high LDL, 3 oz (84 g) of oatmeal a day gave LDL cholesterol 10.1% lower than 0.99 oz (28 g) of farina, which served as the cereal without beta-glucan. That tells you how farina compares with oats, and nothing about farina as a treatment. In a separate 12-week trial with 36 overweight men aged 50 to 75, LDL rose 8.0% on a wheat cereal and fell 2.5% on an oat cereal matched for 14 g of fiber. That wheat cereal was a fiber flake product, so it stands in for farina only loosely. Under the US food standard, farina is wheat other than durum, ground fine enough to pass a No. 20 sieve, which keeps it apart from durum semolina. A cup of cooked Cream of Wheat, a brand of farina, weighs 8.5 oz (240 g), and one dry ounce cooks up to 205 g. We found no meta-analysis or systematic review on farina itself.

How much is actually in it

• US federal food standards define farina as finely ground wheat other than durum, which separates it from semolina made from durum. — 21 CFR 137.300 Farina, standard of identity Evidence E source
  Definition, no effect size

What a real portion looks like

• In the USDA survey food table one cup of cooked Cream of Wheat weighs 8.5 oz (240 g), and one ounce of dry cereal yields 205 g cooked. — USDA FNDDS, Cream of wheat, regular or quick, made with water, no added fat (food code 56207016) Evidence E source
  1 cup cooked 240 g; 1 oz dry yields 205 g; 1 cup dry yields 965 g

What your body absorbs

• In radiolabel trials with 56 volunteers eating a farina breakfast, an irradiated electrolytic iron fortificant was absorbed at only 5-15% of the rate of ferrous sulfate. — 56 volunteers, farina cereal breakfast labeled with 59FeSO4 or electrolytic 55Fe powder (n = 56) Evidence B source
  Relative absorption of electrolytic iron 5-15% of FeSO4
• In the same farina breakfast trials, about 160 mg vitamin C nearly quadrupled iron absorption from ferrous sulfate, while wheat bran phytate cut it by 73%. — 56 volunteers, farina cereal breakfast with ascorbic acid or wheat bran phytic acid (n = 56) Evidence B source
  Ascorbic acid: FeSO4 absorption almost x4, electrolytic iron x2; phytic acid: -73% (FeSO4), -50% (electrolytic)

What cooking and storage change

• By the USDA retention table for regular or quick cooked breakfast cereals, 70% of folate and 80% of thiamin remain after cooking. — USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors Release 6, Breakfast Cereals (code 8), method 358 CEREAL,REG/QUICK,COOKED Evidence E source
  Folate 70%, thiamin 80%, riboflavin 90%, niacin 90%, iron 95%

What it does to your health

• In a 12-week RCT with 36 overweight men aged 50-75, LDL cholesterol rose 8.0% on a wheat cereal and fell 2.5% on an oat cereal matched for 14 g fiber. — 36 overweight men aged 50-75 y, 12 weeks, 14 g dietary fiber per day from cereal (n = 36) Evidence B source
  LDL-C oat -2.5% vs wheat +8.0%; small LDL oat -17.3% vs wheat +60.4%

Safety, limits and interactions

• A case report describes anaphylactic shock in a 12-year-old girl immediately after eating home-made takoyaki, a flour-based snack, with 430 mites per gram found in the cooked food. — one 12-year-old girl with asthma and allergic rhinitis, Japan (n = 1) Evidence D source
  Anaphylactic shock; 430 mites/g in cooked takoyaki
• A Taiwanese survey of stored foods found storage mite contamination fell significantly when packages were sealed and kept below 4 C at under 60% humidity. — commercial storage food samples from various areas and storage conditions in Taiwan, plus mite-allergic patients Evidence C source
  Contamination lower when sealed, below 4 C, relative humidity below 60%

What people believe that the data does not support

• In a 6-week RCT with 156 adults with high LDL, 84 g oatmeal a day lowered LDL cholesterol by 10.1% relative to 28 g farina used as the beta-glucan control. — 156 adults with LDL-C above 160 mg/dL or 130-160 mg/dL with risk factors, 6 weeks (n = 156) Evidence B source
  LDL-C -10.1% (84 g oatmeal), -15.9% (56 g oat bran), -11.5% (84 g oat bran) vs farina control

Who this works differently for

• A crossover RCT with 45 adults with type 2 diabetes used farina, with 78 g carbohydrate and no psyllium, as its high glycemic load breakfast against a psyllium fiber cereal with 62 g. — 45 adults with type 2 diabetes, randomized crossover over 3 weeks (n = 45) Evidence B source
  Glucose and insulin AUC significantly lower after the fiber cereal breakfast (P<0.05); no difference in post-lunch glucose
• In 30 people with type 2 diabetes eating 50 g carbohydrate portions of Indian semolina meals, only steam-cooked semolina and semolina with Bengal gram dhal gave a lower 1-hour glucose response than a glucose load. — 30 non-insulin-dependent diabetes patients, 1.8 oz (50 g) portions of five meals (n = 30) Evidence B source
  Only steam-cooked semolina and semolina with Bengal gram dhal lowered 1-h glucose vs glucose load

The bottom line

What farina does with iron depends on what sits next to it. In radiolabel trials with 56 volunteers eating a farina breakfast, about 160 mg of vitamin C almost quadrupled iron absorption from ferrous sulfate and only doubled it from electrolytic iron. Phytate from wheat bran cut absorption by 73% and 50% respectively. Those were single meals, and they measured absorption, which is a step short of iron status. An irradiated electrolytic iron powder was absorbed at 5 to 15% of the rate of ferrous sulfate, and commercial powders may behave differently. Cooking keeps 70% of folate and 80% of thiamin by the USDA group factor for cooked breakfast cereals, and in enriched farina those are the added vitamins. For people with type 2 diabetes the evidence is thin. A crossover trial in 45 adults with type 2 diabetes chose farina as its high glycemic load breakfast, 78 g of carbohydrate against 62 g in the psyllium cereal it was set against, and the abstract reports the outcome only as a P value. In 30 people with type 2 diabetes eating 50 g carbohydrate portions of Indian meals made from the same non-durum wheat semolina, only steam-cooked semolina and semolina with Bengal gram dhal gave a lower 1-hour glucose response than a glucose drink. That abstract gives no glycemic index number. Who should be careful: farina is wheat, and we found no card on celiac disease, pregnancy or medicines. Stored foods can carry storage mites. In one case report a 12-year-old girl had anaphylactic shock right after eating home-made takoyaki, a flour-based dish, with 430 mites per gram found in the cooked food. In a Taiwanese survey, contamination fell significantly when packages were sealed and kept below 4 C at under 60% humidity. The most contaminated foods in that survey were pet food and mushrooms, with cereals further down.

Sources

1. frna-daily-r7-09 · regulation
   Farina is the food prepared by grinding and bolting cleaned wheat, other than durum wheat and red durum wheat, to such fineness that, when tested by the method prescribed in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, it passes through a No. 20 sieve, but not more than 3 percent passes through a No. 100 sieve.
   21 CFR 137.300 Farina, eCFR · checked 2026-09-28
2. frna-daily-r7-10 · survey food dataset
   Cream of wheat, regular or quick, made with water, no added fat | FNDDS code 56207016 | fdc_id 2708434 | 1 cup, cooked 10043 = 240 g | 1 oz, dry, yields 40049 = 205 g | 1 cup, dry, yields 10074 = 965 g
   USDA FNDDS (survey foods) · checked 2026-09-28
3. frna-daily-r7-01 · RCT
   Iron absorption by 56 volunteers was measured from a farina cereal breakfast radiolabeled with 59FeSO4 or an electrolytic 55Fe powder irradiated by neutron activation. Absorption was determined from whole-body counting (59Fe) and blood isotope incorporation 2 wk later. Absorption of iron from the irradiated electrolytic powder was 5-15% that of FeSO4.
   J Nutr, 2006 · checked 2026-09-28
4. frna-daily-r7-02 · RCT
   Ascorbic acid (approximately 160 mg) enhanced iron absorption from FeSO4 by almost 4-fold but only doubled absorption from electrolytic iron (P for interaction < 0.01). Phytic acid from wheat bran inhibited iron absorption from FeSO4 and electrolytic iron by 73 and 50%, respectively (P for interaction, NS).
   J Nutr, 2006 · checked 2026-09-28
5. frna-daily-r7-11 · retention factor table
   CEREAL,REG/QUICK,COOKED | Breakfast Cereals (8) | Retn_Code 358 | folate_total_ug 70% | thiamin_mg 80% | riboflavin_mg 90% | niacin_mg 90% | iron_mg 95%
   USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors, Release 6 (2007) · checked 2026-09-28
6. frna-daily-r7-05 · RCT
   Time-by-treatment interactions (P < 0.05) for LDL cholesterol (oat: -2.5%; wheat: 8.0%), small LDL cholesterol (oat: -17.3%; wheat: 60.4%), LDL particle number (oat: -5.0%; wheat: 14.2%), and LDL:HDL cholesterol (oat: -6.3%; wheat: 14.2%) were observed.
   Am J Clin Nutr, 2002 · checked 2026-09-28
7. frna-daily-r7-07 · case report
   A 12-year-old girl experienced anaphylactic shock and respiratory failure immediately after eating 4 pieces of takoyaki made at home.
   Arerugi, 2021 · checked 2026-09-28
8. frna-daily-r7-08 · cross-sectional survey
   Tp contamination rates decreased significantly when samples were sealed and stored at a low temperature (< 4 °C), low relative humidity (RH < 60%), or for longer periods at a low temperature.
   Exp Appl Acarol, 2020 · checked 2026-09-28
9. frna-daily-r7-04 · RCT
   A seventh group received 28 g of farina (beta-glucan control). At week 6 of treatment, significant differences were found for both total cholesterol and LDL-C levels among the farina control and the treatment groups who were receiving 84 g of oatmeal, 56 g of oat bran, and 84 g of oat bran, with decreases in LDL-C levels of 10.1%, 15.9%, and 11.5%, respectively.
   JAMA, 1991 · checked 2026-09-28
10. frna-daily-r7-03 · RCT (crossover)
    Two different breakfast meals were administered during the intervention: (A) a high glycemic load breakfast meal consisting of farina (kJ 1833; carbohydrate (CHO) 78 g and psylium soluble fiber 0 g), (B) a low-glycemic load breakfast meal consisting of a fiber-loop cereal (kJ 1515; CHO 62 g and psyllium soluble fiber 6.6 g).
    Eur J Clin Nutr, 2006 · checked 2026-09-28
11. frna-daily-r7-06 · RCT (crossover GI)
    Compared with the blood glucose response for a 50 g glucose load, only meals based on steam-cooked semolina and semolina-Bengal gram dhal elicited a significantly lower response at 1 h postprandially, and only meals based on semolina-black gram dhal at 2 h postprandially.
    Br J Nutr, 1992 · checked 2026-09-28