More Triffid contamination

The Flax Council of Canada is reporting that it has found extremely low levels of Triffid, the unregistered GM flax, in more breeder seed samples. Triffid has now been discovered in the flax varieties CDC Bethune, CDC Sorrel and CDC Sanctuary. As a result, there is now a shift in the issue of producers using farm-saved seed. The Flax Council says farm-saved seed will be allowed, but under rigorous sampling and testing procedures. Those protocols should be announced this week and it’ll be interesting to see the requirements. It appears that if you test enough samples and sub-samples and if the tests are sensitive enough, Triffid contamination is widespread. In many of these tests, Triffid is only present at one or two seeds per million. That’s way below European requirements, but it isn’t zero. It will be very difficult if not impossible to completely eliminate Triffid from the seed supply. For that reason, liability is going to be an issue for anyone selling flax seed. Expect to be presented with a liability waiver if you’re buying flax seed this spring. I’m Kevin Hursh.