It is not my imagination. Whole-wheat pasta tastes much better than it did 10 years ago. If consumers partook in a blind taste test today, most would be hard pressed to tell the difference between a dish of the best brands of whole-wheat pasta and those made with white flour.

Technology, for once not the enemy of good food, has figured out how to give whole-wheat pasta a texture quite similar to what most of us are used to, one that is slithery and that allows the pasta to slip down the throat deliciously and effortlessly.

"Twenty or 30 years ago, when we talked about healthy, nutritious food, the taste and texture were not as good as they are today," says Seth Mendelson, publisher of Grocery Headquarters Magazine, a monthly trade publication that covers the supermarket industry.

Read more about the trends in the whole-wheat pasta market at http://www.sun-sentinel.com.