Canaryseed Earns GRAS Rating
SASKATOON - Jan 12/16 - SNS -- Dehulled glabrous (hairless) canary seed has received novel food approval from Health Canada as well as GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The potential significance of the rating will be recognized by industry participants who remember when canola was also granted GRAS status in the United States, opening the door its use in a multitude of foods. The market potential for canary seed is not as large, but the industry is hopeful thei will spur research into its uses.
"With the achievement of this milestone, we're hopeful that the food industry and consumers will begin to adopt this nutritious, high protein, gluten free grain," says Canaryseed Development Commission of Saskatchewan (CDCS) chair, David Nobbs. "Up until now, production potential has been limited by the size of the market for birdseed."
Producer levies paid to the commission over the past decade supplemented by various government programs have made food approval possible. Extensive compositional, nutritional and toxicological work was required.
Dr. Carol Ann Patterson of The Pathfinders Research and Management, who piloted all the work necessary for food approval, notes, "Canary seed is the first novel cereal crop to be approved in Canada. Projects are continuing to determine the best food applications."
Canary seed flour can be used to make bread, cookies, cereals and pastas. Whole seeds can be used in nutrition bars and sprinkled on hamburger buns in place of sesame seed.
The approval covers both brown and yellow colored seeds from dehulled glabrous canary seed varieties. The glabrous varieties currently grown by farmers are brown when the hull is removed.
Dr. Pierre Hucl, the canary seed breeder at the University of Saskatchewan's Crop Development Centre will be seeking approval for a yellow line at the variety registration meetings in February. Nutritionally, brown and yellow are very similar, but the yellow seeds are more aesthetically pleasing in many food products.
It was Dr. Hucl's work to develop glabrous canary seed that started the effort for food approval. Beyond the breeding, it was Dr. Elsayed Abdelaal, a member of Dr. Hucl's team, who did the initial compositional, nutritional and toxicological analysis on the first hairless variety, CDC Maria, to show its similarity to other cereal grains. His work provided the core safety data for the Health Canada submission.
While canary seed is gluten free, those individuals with a food allergy to wheat may also be allergic to a protein in canary seed. Canary seed and canary seed products for human consumption will have to be labelled with a statement such as, "This product contains canary seed which may not be suitable for people with a wheat allergy".
"We hope that further work will lead to the removal of this labelling requirement at some future date," says Patterson. "On food products where wheat is a labelled ingredient, the cautionary statement will not be necessary."
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