Leading Flaxseed Suppliers: Part III

Here we continue our analysis of the leading flaxseed suppliers at the base of the flaxseed industry pyramid.

Cloutier Agra Seeds Inc.

Cloutier Agra Seeds is a private company founded in 1995 and based near Winnipeg Canada. They specialize in exporting pedigreed seed, oilseeds and identity preserved grains. They were founded for the purpose of introducing small seeded oilseed varieties into the northern U.S. In 1998 they also expanded through the contracting of industrial hempseed production and manufacturing of hemp related products. Flaxseed is only one small aspect of their growing business. We'll take this company off our short list for now.

ConAgra Grain

ConAgra Grain is a division of ConAgra Foods. ConAgra Foods is a publicly traded company (NYSE:CAG) with a market cap of about twelve billion dollars. They are one of the world's largest packaged food companies. Their brands include ACT II, Armour, Banquet, Blue Bonnet, Brown 'N Serve, Butterball, Chef Boyardee, Cook's, Crunch 'n Munch, DAVID, Decker, Eckrich, Egg Beaters, Fleischmann's, Gulden's, Healthy Choice, Hebrew National, Hunt's, Kid Cuisine, Knott's Berry Farm, La Choy, Lamb Weston, Lightlife, Louis Kemp, Lunch Makers, MaMa Rosa's, Manwich, Marie Callender's, Orville Redenbacher's, PAM, Parkay, Pemmican, Peter Pan, Reddi-wip, Rosarita, Ro*Tel, Slim Jim, Snack Pack, Swiss Miss, Van Camp's, Wesson, Wolf, and many others. They are not much into flaxseeds from what I can tell. We'll take them off the short list for now.

Country Lane Organic Grain & Milling

This company is located in Winkler, Manitoba. They supply bagged organic flaxseeds. They are likely a very small company but unfortunately I haven't been able to find anything about them online. If someone knows of a website or a company name change, please let me know in the comments section below.


G.H.Schweitzer Enterprises Limited

This is a small private company based out of Eston Saskatchewan. I have not been able to find a website for this company, but they do supply bagged and bulk non-organic flaxseeds.


Horizon Agro

Horizon Agro is a small private company specializing in the processing of lentils and peas for export. They were founded in 1985, are based in Morris Manitoba. As flax is not their emphasis we'll take them off our short list for now.



to be Continued in Part IV

Flaxseed Grinders

Flax seed is usually sold in one of two forms. Either you can buy the whole flaxseed and grind it yourself or you can buy flax seed which is already ground. Ground flaxseed is sometimes called 'flaxseed meal' or 'flax meal' or 'linseed'. In Europe, the most common English name for flaxseed is in fact linseed.

The advantage of buying flax seed whole and then grinding it yourself, is that you can be assured that the maximum nutrients are still in the seed. The whole flax seed will last much longer in your cupboard.

If you do buy flax seed which is already ground, make sure to check the preparation date on the package. It should not be more than a couple of days old. Once you bring it home, store it in in an airtight container in your fridge (or preferably your freezer) and don't use it for more than two months. Ground flaxseed will go rancid and will lose nutritional status with time.

Flaxseed grinders are available at kitchen stores and online, but an electric coffee grinder will work just as well.

Here are two examples of flax seed grinders. The top one is called the OXO Grind-IT Organic Flax Seed Grinder. This is sheer marketing genius, eh? To call it "Organic" although there is nothing organic about the product itself ;-).

The OXO grinder has received poor reviews on Amazon. I wouldn't recommend it. People say that it takes forever to grind a tablespoon of flax seed using this grinder. It's only useful if you want to sprinkle just a bit of flaxseed over something.

The second grinder pictured here is the William Bounds Electric Flax Seed Mill. The product is not yet available, but you can pre-order. Because it's brand new there are no reviews yet on Amazon. If someone buys it, I'd appreciate your comments about it here.


If you already have a coffee grinder at home, this should work perfectly well for grinding your flax seeds. A very popular coffee bean grinder is the basic Braun model pictured here. The price is right at $15 and it is a very durable grinder and should last you for several years.

Flaxseed Recipes

Here are some delicious flax seed recipes I would recommend.

For a very wholesome soup, high in fiber and omega-3 fats, try this Lentil and Flax Soup.

For a good meatloaf recipe, see Meatloaf with Flaxseeds.

For a fried rice dish, encompassing ground flax seeds, see Flax Fried Rice.

For some delicious flax muffins, try the Orange Bran Flax Muffins recipe.

These recipes are provided by the Flax Council of Canada.

Happy Flax Seed Cooking!

Please let me know what you think of these recipes, or if you have others you would like to share here.


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The above fine art print is "Bread is Baked" by Peter Seal .

Flax seeds help Cure Constipation

To treat constipation, psyllium is often recommended. But the only study completed so far which specifically compares the effectiveness of flax seeds versus psyllium as treatments for constipation, concludes that flaxseeds are even more effective than psyllium.

This was a double-blind study of 55 people, all of whom had chronic constipation caused by irritable bowel syndrome. Half received flax seed and the other half received psyllium seed over a period of three months. Those taking the flaxseed had significantly fewer problems with constipation, bloating or abdominal pain.

Given that flaxseed is a much cheaper alternative than psyllium, this finding should be more widely publicized. Not to mention that if a person takes flaxseed as a treatment for constipation, they will also derive other great health benefits due to the high concentration of omega 3 fats in flax seeds.

See more details about a high fiber diet for constipation here.

To see an objective and complete analysis of the medical studies that have been completed regarding the use of flax seeds as a treatment for constipation, link here.

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The above fine art print is "Baking The Bread" by Peter Seal

The Flaxseed Weight Loss Diet

Here is an easy, natural and healthy way to lose weight. It's Mitra's Three Step Flaxseed Diet. There are only three steps involved. You can eat as much as you want but if you follow these three steps strictly for one month, you are bound to lose a lot of weight. Moreover, this weight will be lost naturally, and will stay off for good if you continue a healthy eating program.

In the first month, you will likely see dramatic weight loss. In the following months, the ideal weight loss is best limited to four to six pounds per month, unless you are obese, in which case the ideal number will be higher.

Here is the simple Three Step Flaxseed Diet:

Step One: Consume one tablespoon of ground flaxseeds per day.

Step Two: Eat as much as you like throughout the day but eat only from the 100 healthiest foods. Try not to eat anything which is not on this list especially anything with white flour or sugar in it, or any kinds of processed foods.

Step Three: Burn a minimum of 1,000 calories in aerobic exercise per week. This is equivalent to walking about ten miles over one week. You can spread it out into four 2.5 mile walks per week or any other combination you prefer. You can walk at any speed you like, but brisk walking is better.

That's it. That is all the info you need to lose weight naturally and quickly.

More details about the three step flaxseed diet:

Step One: A one pound bag of ground flax seed should cost you less than four dollars. You can also buy whole flax seeds and grind them yourself in your coffee grinder. But don't eat the whole flax seeds without grinding them. They are hard to digest and you would be missing out on their nutritional benefits as they passed whole through your digestive system.

Flaxseeds are very rich in fiber and omega-3 fats. They are filling and will satiate your appetite. The omega-3 component will be very good for your mental mood and health.

You can mix them into your cereal (remember, only use the natural cereals such as oatmeal recommended in the 100 healthiest foods list). Or you can just blend them with hot water as your first morning drink. You can also stir them into your scrambled eggs, yogurt snack or any other more complicated dish you are preparing. They have a nutty taste and will not spoil the goodness of your meal.

Step Two: You truly can eat as much as you want, but it must be limited to the 100 healthiest foods listed at the bottom of the page at The World's Healthiest Foods website. This exceptional and non-profit website also provides simple recipes for cooking with these foods. Ideally, if you are hungry beyond your three meals, you will make up the extra eating from the vegetable and legume categories on this list. Keep the dairy products to a minimum.

Don't deny yourself as much food as you care to eat. If you are currently very obese, there is likely an emotional hangup with food as part of your struggle with weight loss. This program is bound to change that. By keeping you off white flour, processed foods and sugar, this program will change your relationship and dependence on the wrong kinds of food. Give it time, and go ahead and help yourself to as much as you want of the right kinds of foods for the first month. Your appetite for food will soon regulate itself as you begin to feel better.

Step Three: Get out there and burn a minimum of 1,000 calories per week. It's easy to do once you've established a routine. This moderate amount of exercise will help rev up your metabolism. If you are fortunate enough to be able to do it outside, all the better as this will ensure you get the Vitamin D necessary for your well-being (from sunlight) and the fresh air will help invigorate you.

For some inspiring stories about healthy weight loss see Weight Loss Success Stories.


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The above image is "Woman on a Beach" by Artist Unknown

Flaxseed HomeMade Facial Mask

Consuming flaxseeds on a regular basis will be very healthy for your skin. But have you ever considered applying flaxseed externally to your skin by making a facial mask using flaxseed?

Many commercially produced facial masks include flaxseed or flaxseed oil as a key ingredient. A flax facial is believed to increase circulation and leave the skin feeling soft and smooth. But it's not necessary to spend $99 dollars to give yourself a first class beauty facial.

Here is a good recipe for a flaxseed facial mask at RoastedFlax.com. (It's not necessary to use roasted flax for this, ordinary ground flaxseed will do just as well). The ingredients for the home-made mask are flaxseed, honey, wheat bran and hot water. Give it a try!

See also a previous article about the health benefits of flaxseeds.

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The above vintage print is "Savon France Hygiene 1925" Author unknown.

Leading Flaxseed Suppliers: Part II

Here we continue our analysis of the leading flaxseed suppliers at the base of the flaxseed industry pyramid.

Bi-pro Marketing Ltd.

Bi-pro was founded in 1992. Today they have 70 employees and are based in Guelph, Ontario in Canada. Their fast growth began with a 'pig-ear treat' distribution business. Their main business is providing the raw ingredients for the feed and pet food industries. Flaxseed appears to be a small component of their business. We'll take this company off our short list for now.

Brian McElroy Seed Farm

This private company was founded in 1999. They don't appear to have a website. They deal in the export of buckwheat, flaxseed, canola, oats and sunflower. They buy and sell process pedigreed seed to farmers and companies in Canada and the United States. We'll leave them off our short list for now.

CanMar Grain Products Ltd.

Here we've hit on a very relevant company for our research purposes. CanMar specializes in roasted flaxseed products. They have an attractive and informative web site about the nutritional benefits of flaxseeds. The company was founded in 1984 and is based in Saskatchewan. They were originally involved in the export of agricultural goods but have switched their main emphasis to the sale of roasted flaxseeds. This company goes to the top end of our short list.

Cargill Ltd.

Cargill is a huge international company providing food, agricultural and risk management products. The company has several divisions and flaxseeds are probably a miniscule portion of their total business. They have over 120,000 employees and are based in Minneapolis. We'll keep them off the short list for now, though they are bound to come up again in our research of emerging flaxseed companies (possibly as investors or partners).


This completes Part II of our analysis of the original list of flaxseed suppliers.

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The image above is "Flax fields across the Saskatchewan Plain" by Michael Lewis

Flaxseeds, Omega 3 and Osteoporosis

Another study has just confirmed the importance of flaxseeds in the treatment of bones that become increasingly fragile with age.

Researchers led by Dr Hana Hamdi in Egypt found that foods containing omega-3 help fight bone weakening enzymes in the body and activate the production of the needed hormones to maintain healthy bones and prevent osteoporosis.

Dr Hamdi found that soy products, flaxseeds and ginseng roots have proven to be effective treatments to strengthen the body against osteoporosis that affects women especially after menopause. Osteoporosis affects women four times as often as men.

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The above image is "Wisdom of Generations" by Lamiel

Leading Flaxseed Suppliers: Part 1

Here we start with brief reviews of the leading flaxseed suppliers on our initial list. The goal is to look at them all briefly and identify which ones to put on a short list for more in-depth reviews.

Agricore United

Agricore United was formed in 2001 as a merger of Agricore and United Grain Growers. It is now the largest grain company in Canada. It is a public company based in Winnipeg and trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol AU-LV. They deal with a lot more than flaxseeds. Their sales include crop inputs and services, grain merchandising, livestock production services and financial markets. Their annual sales are about $350 million Canadian dollars. Someone over at Agricore should really do something about their outdated website.

Alfred C. Toepfer (Canada) Ltd.

Alfred C. Toepfer is a German company based out of Hamburg. They trade in grain, oilseeds and feedstuffs and have about 1,600 employees. If their website is any indication of their marketing prowess, they are doing well.

Argosy International Inc

Argosy is based out of New York and looks to be a private company. Their main products are specialty chemicals and tapes including tooling resins, adhesives, coatings, potting compounds, specialty tapes, film adhesives, honeycomb, sealants and prepregs. Their website is at ArgosyChemical. This market is not of much interest for our purposes.

Bioriginal Food & Science Corp.

This is the first company on our alphabetical list that looks very promising for our purposes here.

Bioriginal is a privately owned company founded in 1986. It's based out of Saskatoon, Canada. They see themselves primarily as "a global provider of innovative essential fatty acid (EFA) solutions". Their products are used in nutraceuticals, functional foods, skin care products, cosmetics, animal feed, veterinary products and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals.

According to their web site Bioriginal "provides EFAs including flax, evening primrose, borage (starflower), black currant, fish, hemp, echium, perilla and camelina as well as CLA. Delivery systems range from bulk oil and capsules, to finished, packaged products. In addition to the standard oil or seed formats, Bioriginal provides custom formulations, highly-concentrated EFA oils, water-soluble EFA powders, and a line of flax-based low net carb functional food products including BakOmega®, FibrOmega® and ProBioFlax™."

Their goal is to be the global leader in EFA-based solutions to the nutritional supplement industry. We'll definitely want to investigate this company in detail in a future post.


This completes Part 1 of a brief overview of the first few flaxseed suppliers on our list. To be continued in Part 2.

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The above image is "Peppers & Oil II" by Tanya Fischer