It's no longer toast

At the Bean & Leaf Cafe in downtown Boston, owner Christine Leone is daring to bake more batches of blueberry muffins and mango scones.

She wants to satisfy carb-craving customers whose rebuffs months ago forced her to scale back. Slowly but surely, Leone says, ''People are coming back to bread."

Many in the food industry -- from frustrated chefs in Boston's North End to anxious executives at major conglomerates -- are hoping people will finally lose their appetite for low-carb diets. To hasten its end, bakers and millers are fighting back.

For the first time, the industry is spending millions of dollars to collectively promote their products and take down the low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets that knocked bread off the table. The Grains Food Foundation, which is spearheading the initiative, launched this month a three-year, $10 million campaign, ''Bread. It's Essential," to showcase bread as crucial for achieving and maintaining long-term health and wellness.

''We should have been doing this a long time ago," said Matt Hall, a spokesman for Sara Lee Corp., the Chicago maker of Sara Lee baked goods and Ball Park hot dogs. ''Now, we have to educate and offer products that give people permission to come back to bread."

More Americans might be willing to listen this year. NPD Group, a market research firm in Port Washington, N.Y., said the percentage of adults on low-carb diets dropped to 4.3 percent in January from 9.1 percent a year earlier. Meanwhile, bread sales continued to grow, up 2.8 percent last month over January 2004, according to Chicago market research firm Information Resources Inc.

Bread backers are also promoting new dietary guidelines released last month by the federal government that call for eating more whole grains -- the new darling of the bread industry. Diets rich in whole grains, such as oats and barley, can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and help with weight control. Unlike whole grains, refined grains have been milled, taking away much of the B vitamins, iron, and dietary fiber.

At Bricco in the North End, general manager Rita D'Angelo has expanded whole wheat offerings because that's what people want as they return to carbs. Whole-wheat rolls with roasted tomatoes and other grainy treats now join the bread baskets. Around the corner at Sage restaurant, chef Anthony Susi is planning to buy whole wheat loaves in an effort to keep the baskets from returning full to the kitchen.

''Everybody in the bread industry is probably breathing a collective sigh of relief because the low-carb trend has fizzled out, and the government is saying that whole grains are good for you," said Anne Mixen, an analyst for NPD. ''Companies like Sara Lee and General Mills have reformulated their products to add more whole grains. They've got a chance to really make the most of this."

Sara Lee also recently launched a new website -- www.breadrules.com -- dedicated to debunking myths and fads that have attacked bread's value. The company plans to add more whole grain products as it concentrates on the bakery and beverage business and sheds other brands, including Hanes underwear and Champion sports apparel.

Other major food companies that have blamed poor financial results, at least in part, on low-carb diets have stepped up efforts to offer more whole grain products. Interstate Bakeries Corp., which filed for bankruptcy in September, introduced the Baker's Inn bread as an alternative to its struggling Wonder Bread brand.

''Consumers have clearly switched from white bread and the challenge is to make sure we have a product that tastes good and delivers the healthiness that consumers demand," said Jacques Roizen, chief marketing officer at Interstate Bakeries, the Kansas City, Mo., wholesale bread and cake distributor.

Boston's Finagle a Bagel says its new ''Make it Skinny" campaign -- scooping out the inside of the bagel -- is not about the low-carb diets that reduced bagel sales last May by 2 percent.

''The craze has come to an end," said Finagle owner Laura Trust. ''We are seeing weight-conscious customers who are looking for ways to eat light but still have something that tastes good."

Meanwhile, Dunkin' Donuts says its reduced-carb bagel, with 45 grams of carbohydrates (and 24 percent of recommended daily saturated fat) instead of 62 grams in the plain bagel (and 3 percent of recommended daily saturated fat), is still popular and accounts for 2 percent of its bagel sales.

In the North End, restaurateurs said they are thrilled that low-carb diets are fading. D'Angelo hopes to bring back one of her favorite dishes, Kobe Beef Cannelloni, a pasta stuffed with Kobe beef, cream, and ricotta cheese, and smothered in butter and truffle sauce.

''Carbs make you feel good," D'Angelo said. ''And it's not like the three raviolis on the dish are really going to put you over the edge."

Jenn Abelson can be reached at abelson@globe.com.