The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Ergot in my rye . . .

Weatherwax's picture
Weatherwax

Ergot in my rye . . .

Hi,

I'm new here, and I've got a basic safety question that I'm having trouble answering.  I've just opened a bag of rye berries from an organic grower in Canada.  It's the second bag I've ordered from them; they replaced the first bag because it had ergot in it. The ergoty berries were large, dark and purple--hard to miss. There were also a lot of foreign seeds. The company tested my returned bag, confirmed the presence of ergot, and said they had had a problem with their sorter. They sent me a second bag as a replacement.

So, the second bag also had a couple of ergoty berries floating on the top of the grain. Just a couple. The rest looks okay, and there aren't nearly as many foreign seeds.

My question is this: if I pick out the purple ones, will the rest be safe to eat? (I've called a western grower, the county extension, and a company that manufactures rye sorting equipment, but no one seemed to know off the top of their heads).

In the meantime, I'm picking the rye out of my flour mill grain by grain, because, you know, I don't want my sandwich to make me hallucinate.

 

 

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

Man, I would be hesitant to use the grain if only because you may not remove all of the ergot. Maybe the larger ones are easy to spot and get out but what about the smaller ones?  If you go grain by grain I am sure you can get them all but that seems like a lot of work.

I read that:

Most, but not all, ergots can be removed from grain by cleaning it with gravity-type cleaning
equipment. Small, high-value seed lots can be cleaned by flotation in brine (20 percent salt
solution). The sclerotia float and the grain sinks in the brine solution.

But it seems a lot easier to return it and try a different mill.

 

Kiseger's picture
Kiseger

I would not use this batch, the ergot spores are highly volatile so even those berries that look fine are likely to have spores on them ready to start working....   Not worth putting your health at risk, life's short enough as it is and there are too many loaves to bake...... Make sure you seal the bag, put it out of kitchen space and wash hands like a surgeon!  

yozzause's picture
yozzause

Some interesting info here 

http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/wong/BOT135/LECT12.HTM

regards yozza

AbeNW11's picture
AbeNW11 (not verified)

Don't take any chances. Better safe than sorry. 

FlyinAggie's picture
FlyinAggie

Don't let any of the ergot get around a pregnant woman.  It can stimulate labor.  Ergot alkaloids can be useful for migraine sufferers, but that's controlled in carefully manufactured nasal spray! 

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

I am not sure that the spores are all that dangerous to anybody, and assume it is the concentration of them that matters. So when you see that black rye "seed" we think of ergot, that is what you want to avoid consuming. The millers may be able to filter it out better than you, but I expect a lot of rye may have ergot spores in it and be perfectly safe.  Still, I wouldn't use the grains if it had visible ergot in it.