Toxin may raise durum wheat price despite huge North American crop

[inanna]

Source: Reuters

Monday, Sep. 19, 2016 3:33PM EDT

The swaying durum crops on Dave Marzolf’s farm look lush and even, bearing full kernels of the wheat used to make pasta.

On a closer look though, Mr. Marzolf’s durum kernels are infected with fusarium, a disease that produces a toxin known as vomitoxin and has forced him to sell the crop for animal feed.

“It’s garbage,” Mr. Marzolf said by phone from Central Butte, Sask. “Big crop, poor quality – now what?”

Durum, which thrives in desert-like conditions of dry, hot days and cool nights, is processed into a coarse product called semolina that is used to make pasta. Canada, the world’s top durum exporter, ships much of it to Italy, Algeria and Morocco.

Vomitoxin and other problems resulting from torrential rain have also spoiled crops in France, the European Union’s biggest durum exporter.



Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/toxin-may-raise-durum-wheat-price-despite-huge-north-american-crop/article31953738/

[pnwmom]

1. Is it okay for animals to eat the toxin? n/t

[Seedersandleechers]

2. Vomitoxin does exactly what you think it does

It causes pigs to vomit.


https://naturespoisons.com/2014/06/11/vomitoxin-it-does-exactly-what-you-think-deoxynivalenol/

[pnwmom]

3. Well, that was interesting. Yes, as the article explains,

this might have something to do with the increasing incidence of gluten sensitivity and food allergies.

Thanks for the link.

[Thor_MN]

4. The article says the exact opposite...

"And the current fad of “gluten-free” diets – perhaps people that have GI upsets after eating wheat products are just sensitive to vomitoxin, and it has nothing to do at all with gluten."

[pnwmom]

5. You purposely skipped the previous two paragraphs for some strange reason.

Both things are possible, based on the article. The toxin in wheat might be causing some people to think they have a gluten response, and they don't -- they're really responding to the toxin.

AND the toxin might also, in some people, be damaging the intestines in a way that increases the risk for Celiac, other forms of inflammatory bowel disease, and allergies.

The mechanism behind vomitoxin toxicity, and associated GI disturbances, lies in its ability to destroy intestinal barrier functions (7). The intestinal barrier is the body’s largest and most important barrier, and facilitates the transport of nutrients into the body, while keeping toxins out. The selective barrier is made of protein-protein networks that link adjacent cells, and are known as tight junctions. The destruction of these tight junctions allows antigens and other toxins to enter the body and blood stream. The breakdown of tight junctions is associated with the onset and recurrence of chronic intestinal inflammation, which would be expected if antigens – anything that triggers an immune response – have free reign over the intestines. Diseases that follow this pattern are the well known inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and celiac disease (8).


Think of your intestinal barrier as the Great Wall of China held together by tight junctions. Now imagine the tight junctions being destroyed and the Mongols invading. It’s just like that. The facilitator in breaking apart those tight junctions? That would be the Mongol’s secret weapon: vomitoxin. And it’s not just a high dose acute exposure that leads to the gastritis and intestinal distress symptoms, chronic low-level amounts of vomitoxin can disrupt the intestinal barrier and may be a factor in IBD, celiac disease, and food allergies (8).

[Thor_MN]

8. And you purposely skipped what I posted.

That the people deciding that they are gluten intolerant may just have had some experiences with vomitoxin and it has nothing to do with gluten in the first place.

So now anyone reading has the info that you chose to skip.

[pnwmom]

9. No, I didn't. I acknowledged your point when I said:

Both things are possible, based on the article. The toxin in wheat might be causing some people to think they have a gluten response, and they don't -- they're really responding to the toxin.

AND the toxin might also, in some people, be damaging the intestines in a way that increases the risk for Celiac, other forms of inflammatory bowel disease, and allergies.

[Thor_MN]

10. Well now that anyone bothering to read this, but not the article, has the all the info.

So everything is both hunky and dory.

Feel free to grab the last word.

[Drahthaardogs]

12. Lol, no it doesn't

Most gluten intolerance is a bunch of people jumping on a bandwagon. You need Iga antibody test followed by a biopsy to confirm the disease. Ask your gluten intolerant friends if they had the test. Most will tell you "no but..." then tell you about the Paleo diet.

[pnwmom]

13. It's a panel of blood tests, not just one, and yes, I've had them.

And so have my daughter, my son, and my niece. Along with tendoscopic biopsies.

And my niece's dad is a G.I. doc.

I'm sure I've read much, much more about gluten than you ever have or will.

[Maine-i-acs]

6. Depending on the level -

It can be given to animals at various stages in their lives. And sometimes is blended with other feeds to make meal, lowering the toxin level and increasing the palatability.

Secondary effects like liver cancer take a while to develop. So if an animal is in its last few months before slaughter, for example, the toxin won't have as much time to take effect.

[pnwmom]

7. Would eating animal liver from an animal fed this feed put a human at risk?

[Maine-i-acs]

11. Yes for sure

Concentrated there IIRC
Sorry for the delay