Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved canary seed for human consumption.
Similar in size to a flaxseed, this high-protein, gluten-free grain can now be incorporated whole into energy bars, snack bars, hamburger buns, bagels, and ground into flour for use in baked goods.
The bulk of the world’s canary seed crops are grown and exported by farmers in Saskatchewan, so this new finding greatly benefits them.
Carol Ann Patterson, food scientist with Pathfinders Research and Management Ltd., says, “From a protein perspective, compared to other cereals, canary seed ranks up there and that’s why it’s so good for gluten-free applications because right now a lot of the flours that are used … don’t have the same nutrient composition as canary seed would have in terms of fatty acids, in terms of the vitamins, in terms of fibre and in terms of protein content.”
