A food product that uses “ancient grains” will be sure to put the phrase on the package where anyone can see it. And though maybe the term sounds appealing — like it’s alluding to the healthier diets of our ancestors — it’s not immediately clear what it means.
“The 'ancient' [label] isn’t entirely a misnomer, but it gets confusing very quickly,” says Julie Dawson, a crop scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
