Sanitarium Puffed Wheat is a breakfast cereal made from 100% wholegrain wheat pieces puffed into a light cereal which is packed with carbohydrate. Puffed Wheat is also low in fat, sugar and salt, and provides dietary fibre.

Choosing the best wheat
To make Sanitarium Puffed Wheat and Honey Puffs only the highest quality wheat with large, full grains are used.

The grain also needs to have the correct moisture and protein levels.

Cleaning the wheat
We buy wheat from brokers or directly from farmers and have it delivered and placed in large storage bins (called silos) at the Sanitarium factory in Auckland. It is cleaned really well and then stored below 20ºC.

Grading
The wheat is then graded through a sieve, so that a uniform size can be used for puffing.

The Puffing Process
The wheat is fed into a hot pressure chamber, where the pressure is suddenly released, so that the grain expands to several times its original size.

The puffed grains are called 'berries' at this stage.

Packaging Puffed Wheat
The Puffed Wheat berries are taken by a bucket elevator into a packaging machine, where they are packed into the liner bags and then sealed. A machine places the bag into a boxboard packet, which is then packed into a carton.

Making Honey Puffs
The production of Honey Puffs requires one further step. The berries are mixed with hot toffee (made from sugar, honey, glucose and acetic acid) and then placed in a cooler. This causes the toffee to set. They are then packaged in the same way as Puffed Wheat.

From the Factory to the Store
Sanitarium has a warehouse in Auckland and Christchurch, where the products are stored until they are sent to the supermarket.

Strict Quality Control
Quality control is important at all stages of production. The technicians regularly check wheat characteristics, moisture, crispness, colour and size of the final product.