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.