Broken seeds are pieces of flaxseed or solin that are less than three-quarters the size of a whole seed.

▲ Important:

• Flaxseed and solin have separate tolerances for Broken.
• Broken seeds of flaxseed and solin are also included in Total damage.

Representative portion for analysis

Minimum—25 g     Optimum—100 g     Export—100 g

▲ Important: Wear gloves and a mask to handle any sample that is suspected of containing contaminated grain.

Contaminated is defined in the “Canada Grain Act” as; “Contaminated means, in respect of grain, containing any substance in sufficient quantity that the grain is unfit for consumption by persons or animals or is adulterated within the meaning of the regulations made pursuant to sections B.01.046(1), B.15.001 and B.15.002(1) of the Food and Drugs Act.”

Samples deemed to be contaminated by the Grain Research Laboratory in consultation with the Chief Grain Inspector for Canada are graded Flaxseed, Sample Condemned.

Damage includes

• Seeds that are heated, broken, frosted, green, sprouted, shriveled or otherwise damaged
• Seeds with fractured seed coats

▲ Important: Seeds are not considered damaged if they

• Have any side portions of the boll membrane attached but are otherwise sound
• Appear scabbed or blistered but are otherwise sound

Representative portion for analysis

Minimum—10 g     Optimum—50 g     Export—50 g

Number of crushes for analysis

Minimum—5       Optimum—10     Export—10

Procedures

• Divide the sample to the appropriate representative portion.
• Handpick the representative portion for visually damaged seeds.
• Determine the percentage concentration by weight.
• Prepare and crush the appropriate number of strips from the clean sample. If any heated seeds are detected or if the sample has a heated odour, refer to the procedure for assessment of heated.
• Determine the percentage of non-visual damage.
• Add the two percentages of damage together to determine the total damage.

• Hard earth pellets are pellets that do not crumble under light pressure. See Stones.
• Soft earth pellets are pellets that crumble under light pressure See Soft earth pellets.

Ergot is a plant disease producing elongated fungus bodies with a purplish-black exterior, a purplish-white to off-white interior, and a relatively smooth surface texture.

Representative portion for analysis

Minimum—100 g     Optimum—500 g     Export—500 g

▲ Important: Wear gloves and a mask to handle any samples that you suspect may contain excreta.

Representative portion for analysis

Minimum—working sample     Optimum—working sample     Export—working sample

Fertilizer pellets are typically either small, round and white or irregular shaped and pink or red. Fertilizer pellets are not considered a hazardous substance however there is no visible means of assuring that material resembling fertilizer pellets is not some other contaminant.

Representative portion for analysis

Minimum—working sample     Optimum—working sample     Export—working sample

Procedures

• Handpick any fertilizer pellets and determine the concentration basis the net working sample.
• Fertilizer pellets are assessed as stones when the concentration does not exceed 1.0% of the net sample weight.
• Samples containing fertilizer pellets in excess of 1.0% of the net sample weight are graded Flaxseed, Held IP Suspect Contaminated Grain.

Note: Canadian Grain Commission personnel should refer to ISO national work instruction “Suspect Contaminated Grain, Handling Procedures” for procedures to be followed when handling samples containing fertilizer pellets.

Samples that show any evidence of being charred or scorched by fire are considered fireburnt. Evidence includes odour, pieces of charred wood, and so on. Fireburnt seeds pop when crushed.

Representative portion for analysis

Minimum—working sample     Optimum—working sample     Export—working sample

Procedures

Samples considered fireburnt are graded Flaxseed, Sample CW/CE, Account Fireburnt or Solin, Sample CW Account Fireburnt.

Heated refers to seeds with discoloured cotyledons ranging in colour from orange to dark brown depending on the severity of heat damage. The seed coats of heated seeds are usually shiny brown or black. Severely heated seeds usually have a heated odour.

Representative portion for analysis

Minimum—10     Optimum—50     Export—50

Procedures

1. The cleaned sample is divided to a representative portion of between 10 and 50 grams, depending on the concentration of heated in the sample.
2. Those seeds having shiny brown to black seed coats are separated by hand as potential heated seeds.
3. The potentially heated seeds are cut or are placed on a strip of masking tape and crushed with a seed roller to expose the cotyledons.
4. Seeds having discoloured cotyledons ranging in colour from orange to dark brown are counted to determine the percentage of heated seeds.
5. When crushing samples, the number of heated seeds is converted to a weight percentage by weighing an equal number of sound seeds and dividing the weight of the sound seeds by the weight of the representative portion.

Inseparable seeds are domestic seeds such as mustard seed, canola, whole shrunken or broken kernels of other grains and weed seeds such as wild oats and lady's thumb that remain in the sample after cleaning.

Representative portion for analysis

Minimum—20 g     Optimum—50 g     Export—50 g

There is no numeric tolerance for odour. Consider

• The basic quality of the sample
• The type and degree of the odour
• The presence of visible residue causing the odour

Representative portion for analysis

Minimum—working sample     Optimum—working sample     Export—working sample

• In solin, other classes of flaxseed refers to classes of brown and golden flaxseedwith high linolenic acid content
• In flaxseed, other classes of flaxseed refers to classes with yellow or golden seed coats.

▲ Important: Golden flaxseed and solin may be visually indistinguishable. However, their end uses are quite different. If you are not sure if the sample is golden flaxseed or solin, send the sample to the Chief Grain Inspector.

Representative portion for analysis

Minimum—20 g     Optimum—50 g     Export—50 g

Other oilseeds applies to solin only.

In solin, other oilseeds is part of the tolerance for Other oilseeds and inseparable seeds.

Representative portion for analysis

Minimum—20 g     Optimum—50 g     Export—50 g

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a fungus producing hard masses of fungal tissue, called sclerotia. The sclerotia vary in size and shape, have a course surface texture, vary in exterior color from dark black to gray to white and have a pure white interior.

Representative portion for analysis

Minimum—100 g     Optimum—500 g     Export—500 g

Soft earth pellets are

• Earth pellets that crumble into fine dust under light pressure, using a finger only—if they do not crumble, they are considered Stones
• Any non-toxic material of similar consistency

Representative portion for analysis

Minimum—working sample     Optimum— working sample     Export— working sample

Procedures

1. Handpick soft earth pellets from a representative portion of the cleaned sample.
2. Soft earth pellets are removed as dockage. See Composition of dockage.

Stones are hard shale, coal, hard earth pellets, and any other non toxic materials of similar consistency. Fertilizer pellets are assessed as stones when constituting 1.0% or less of the net sample weight. (See Fertilizer pellets for specific procedures to be followed when samples contain fertilizer pellets.)

Representative portion for analysis

Minimum—500 g     Optimum—1000 g     Export—1000 g

Procedures

1. Handpick stones from a representative portion of the cleaned sample.
2. Determine stone concentration in the net sample.

• In western Canada samples of grain containing stones in excess of “basic grade” tolerances, up to 2.5% are graded Flaxseed/Solin, Rejected “basic grade” Account Stones. The “basic grade” refers to a grade established in the Canada Grain Regulations (grades listed in the first column in grade determinant tables) that would have been assigned to the sample if it contained no stones.
• In eastern Canada samples of grain containing stones in excess of grade tolerances are degraded to lower grades. Samples containing stones in excess of the tolerance of the lowest grade established by regulation up to 2.5% are graded Flaxseed, Sample Canada Eastern Account Stones.
• In western and eastern Canada grain containing more than 2.5% stones is graded Flaxseed/Solin, Sample Salvage.

Examples: Western Canada

Basic grade:....................... Flaxseed, No. 1 CW

Examples: Eastern Canada

Basic grade:....................... Flaxseed, No. 1 CE

Treated seed

Treated seed is grain that has been coated with an agricultural chemical for agronomic purposes. These seed dressings contain a dye to render the treated seed visually conspicuous. The colour of the dye varies depending upon the type of treatment and the type of grain. The current Canadian colour standards for pesticide seed treatments are: cereals–pink or red, canola–baby blue or green. Seed treated with an inoculant may have a green stain. The coatings or stains may appear greasy or powdery and surface area distribution ranges from tiny flecks to complete coverage.

Other chemical substances

Other chemical substances refers to any chemical residues either adhering to the kernel or remaining in the sample and to samples having a chemical odour of any kind.

▲ Important: Wear gloves and a mask to handle any samples that you suspect may contain contaminated grain.

Representative portion for analysis

Minimum—working sample     Optimum—working sample     Export—working sample

If a sample is suspected of being coated with a pesticide, desiccant, inoculant or if the sample contains evidence of any foreign chemical substance other than fertilizer pellets, the sample shall be graded Flaxseed, Held IP Suspect Contaminated Grain.

Note: Canadian Grain Commission personnel should refer to ISO national work instruction “Suspect Contaminated Grain, Handling Procedures” for specific procedures to be followed when handling samples suspected of containing treated seed or other chemical substances.