Commission Regulation (EC) No 670/2009 (repealed)Show full title

1.4. Miscellaneous impurities (Schwarzbesatz)

Grains of basic cereals and other cereals which are damaged, affected by ergot or decayed are to be classified as ‘miscellaneous impurities’ even if they have defects which belong to other categories.

(a)

Extraneous seeds:

Extraneous seeds are seeds of plants, whether or not cultivated, other than cereals. They include seeds not worth recovering, seeds which can be used for livestock and noxious seeds.

‘Noxious seeds’ means seeds which are toxic to humans and animals, seeds hampering or complicating the cleaning and milling of cereals and seeds affecting the quality of products processed from cereals;

(b)

Damaged grains:

Damaged grains are those rendered unfit for human consumption and, as regards feed grain, for consumption by cattle, owing to putrefaction, mildew, or bacterial or other causes.

Damaged grains also include grains damaged by spontaneous heat generation or too extreme heating during drying. These ‘heated’ or ‘smutty’ grains are fully grown grains in which the tegument is coloured greyish brown to black, while the cross-section of the kernel is coloured yellowish grey to brownish black.

Grains attacked by wheat-midge shall be considered damaged grains only when more than half the surface of the grain is coloured grey to black as a result of secondary cryptogamic attack. Where discoloration covers less then half the surface of the grain, they must be classed with grains damaged by pests;

(c)

Extraneous matter:

All matter in a sample of cereals retained by a sieve with apertures of 3,5 mm (with the exception of grains of other cereals and particularly large grains of the basic cereal) and that passing through a sieve with apertures of 1,0 mm shall be considered extraneous matter. Also included are stones, sand, fragments of straw and other impurities in the samples which pass through a sieve with apertures of 3,5 mm and are retained by a sieve with apertures of 1,0 mm;

(d)

husks;

(e)

ergot;

(f)

decayed grains;

(g)

dead insects and fragments of insects.