Canadian Food Grade Flax

Quality seed. Food-grade flax selection starts with excellent quality seed from more than 15 Canadian-bred flax varieties. Grown in the clean, clear air of the northern Canadian prairies, Canadian flax is the finest in the world. A supplier of food-grade flax starts with flax seed, which is mostly free of foreign matter, usually has less than 5% dark seeds, and is a uniform colour. To deliver food-grade flax, a Canadian supplier then applies strict standards of seed cleanliness.

Careful handling. During harvest and after, food-grade flax is handled carefully to meet food safety requirements and maintain its nutritional value. Harvesting equipment is carefully adjusted to minimize seed damage. Moisture levels are also strictly controlled; acceptable moisture content levels for food-grade flax range from 9 to 10%.

Screening out impurities. While all flax delivered from the flax grower to a Canadian grain elevator is inspected and graded according to the uniformity of the sample, the highest Canadian Grain Commission grade of flax, No. 1 CW, allows for significant levels of damaged seeds and some other weed seeds, dust and straw. This grade, generally, is not suitable for food uses. Higher levels of cleaning take out foreign material to make flax seed a more attractive, safe and wholesome product.

Food-grade flax is given the care and attention of a premium food product. To meet food-grade standards, flax undergoes rigorous screening in equipment specially designed to remove even the smallest contaminating particles, such as septa. These tiny, grid-like parts, which separate the seeds in a flax seed pod, called a boll, are particularly undesirable for seed that will be repackaged. Septa can stick to clear plastic, making the package look messy and unattractive. Careful screening leaves only flax seeds behind.

Unacceptable Flax Seed

1. Broken or damaged seeds may result from poor growing conditions or damage by harvesting equipment
2. Immature white or green flax seeds result from harvesting too early or from poor growing conditions that delayed normal seed development
3. Black or discoloured seeds result from a late harvest, poor growing conditions or plant disease/li>

Free of extra material, food-grade flax is noticeably more attractive and pure. Suppliers confirm that food-grade flax is 99.9% pure, that is, it is almost free of extraneous matter and damaged seeds.

Rich in healthful qualities. Because of the advantage of the Prairie climate, Canadian flax seed is rich in healthful qualities – protein and the omega-3 fat, alpha-linolenic fatty acid (ALA). Although environmental conditions affect the oil and ALA content from year to year, the table below shows an average of these values for Canadian flax seed.

No.1 Canada Western Flax Seed Quality Data
1994-2003 mean
Oil content1, %	44.3
Protein content2, %	23.0
Linolenic acid, % in oil	57.8

¹Dry matter basis
²N x 6.25; dry matter basis
Source: Quality of western Canadian flaxseed-2004. Canadian Grain Commission.

Buy only clean, pure Canadian flax. Canadian food-grade flax seed looks much better than other flax. Food-grade flax has almost no extraneous material – 99.9% purity is the standard. Food-grade flax seeds are close in size and there are few broken, or white or black seeds in the product. Although flax can range in colour from year to year, a light to reddish brown colour is desirable. Yellow seeded flax is grown under contract in Canada.

To meet the requirements of your final products, Canadian food-grade flax suppliers can provide:

• Samples of food-grade flax
• Analyses of oil content and ALA content
• Other tests, such as microbiological counts