Flaxseed (Linseed)

Brown & golden linseed by oil and omega-3 content

CBIL brokers brown and golden flaxseed — traded as linseed on the industrial side — Sortex-cleaned to ≥ 99% purity with oil content typically 38–44% and alpha-linolenic acid running around 50–55% of that oil, which is the whole reason the food trade buys it. Colour is the first fork in the specification: golden flax is paler and milder and is what bakery and health-food packers specify when the seed is visible on a loaf or in a cereal, while brown flax is cheaper, functionally identical in omega-3 terms, and the default for milling into flax meal, for crushing, and for industrial linseed oil where nobody sees the seed. Buyers choose flax over the other oil seeds for one reason — the omega-3 profile — and specify against it, so oil content and FFA at ≤ 2% carry the contract.

Moisture is the live risk on this line. Flax is hygroscopic and its oil is highly unsaturated, so it oxidises quickly once cracked or milled and it will heat in a badly loaded container; we hold moisture at ≤ 8% and are explicit that whole seed keeps for months while flax meal keeps for weeks. Buyers should also note that industrial linseed and food-grade flax are the same seed but not the same lot — industrial material is not handled to food-grade standards, so state the use up front. Every lot ships against SGS or Intertek certification of purity, oil content, FFA, moisture, admixture, cadmium where the destination limits it, and pesticide residue, with phytosanitary and fumigation documentation, in 25kg and 50kg PP or jute bags, container-load, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms.