# Wheat germ and wheat bran are rancid?



## Ex Libris (Jan 31, 2004)

This is what a neighbor of mine recently told me. She said that whole wheat flours remove these things b/c they don't have any shelf life, and that when we buy them separately they are already rancid (so she grinds bulk grains and uses the flour right away). I'm assuming that she doesn't mean that they're dangerous to sell/eat, otherwise they probably wouldn't be in the stores (I say "probably" b/c I know there are many things in the store that are questionable). but is there any validity to what she's saying? I put both in my homemade bread and want to discontinue doing it if they're not good for us. Thanks!


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## Queen Gwen (Nov 20, 2001)

Yes, these things *do* go rancid easily, at least the wheat germ can (not sure about the bran). Sometimes you can even taste how rancid they are.

I happen to be sensitive to rancid tastes, so am put in the position of refusing to eat things that are "fresh" from the store...like, my mom used to buy the pre-ground flax seed. Blech. I got her whole flaxseed to grind fresh herself (although she then grinds a bunch, then saves it for the next day...it tastes bad to me within hours of grinding). And dh buys this brown rice cereal that he just loves, but tastes awful to me since whole grain rice begins to go rancid as soon as it is ground.

None of this stuff is going to make you ill in the sense of food poisoning. But it's not going to be as nourishing as freshly ground, properly prepared grains. And I think it's going to require more vit. E for your body to handle those rancid oils.


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## dawng (Jan 15, 2005)

It would be very hard to find wheat germ in stores that is not rancid. Even if you purchase it from a health food store that keeps it refridgerated, it may be rancid before they even received it.


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