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Letter Re: Is Grain Sold as Seed or Animal Feed Safe to Eat?
Mr. Rawles
I got a
You Tube link that shows "Five gallon bucket storage techniques" and
was wondering if the "deer wheat" mentioned in
the video was edible or able to sprout and also make wheat berries? I went
to my local feed store and they can get the "deer wheat" in 50 pound
bags either as "seed" or "feed". If this "deer wheat" is
okay for human consumption, then which would be the better buy, "seed" or
"feed"?
JWR Replies: Typically "seed" grain is treated with insecticides and fungicides, but "feed "grain is not. Any whole grain (without fillers, additives
or byproducts) sold as animal "feed" is probably fit
for human consumption, but don't count
on it. (See the scholarly study "Contaminants
and toxins in animal feeds",
for example.) The FDA food
handling
standards
for human consumption generally don't apply. Thus, there could be excess
pesticides, insect parts, insect excreta, or other contamination, including
the risk of
micotoxins, . This is not to say that grains packed for human food are perfect.
I've found much more than just chaff in the wheat that I bought from food storage
vendors over
the years, including pebbles and small dirt clod! But at least the screening
is
more thorough with these grains that with animal feed.
The only way to be sure about safety for human consumption is to check with
the
feed mill/packaging company, for each product.
Perhaps
a reader that works at a feed mill or perhaps someone with a background in
food
inspection
would care
to share their knowledge.
