Food Grade
Soybeans
Canada is a global leader in producing top-quality food-grade soybeans for world markets. We take pride in going the extra mile to surpass global standards and find new solutions for our customers.
The right growing conditions for consistent quality
Most Canadian food-grade soybeans are grown in the fertile soils of Ontario and Quebec between the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River basin. The climate is moderated by the world’s largest fresh water system, providing the uniform temperatures and rainfall that are essential for year-in, year-out consistency and for dependably high soybean yields.
The composition of Ontario-grown soybeans is monitored through annual variety trials in different growing regions. Additional testing by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada measures important attributes such as isoflavones, sucrose, oligosaccharides, total sugars and total fermentable carbohydrates.
For more information, visit the Food-Grade Variety Finder, a comprehensive online listing of quantitative information about varieties grown specifically for the soy food industry.
The world’s most integrated system for quality management
All Canadian food-quality soybeans must meet strict tolerances for soundness, cleanliness, uniformity of size, colour, testweight and a long list of other criteria.
For an even higher assurance of quality, buyers can contract production and delivery of soybeans through the Canadian Identity Preserved Recognition System (CIPRS). This fully integrated system assures customers that they will receive soybeans grown to their specifications, and that best practices will be followed at every stage of production, processing, handling and transport.
After more than 30 years, this system has an unmatched track record for delivering the right product to the right customer. The Canadian industry believes that soyfoods have specific, targetable quality requirements, and that by concentrating every step of our production system on meeting those needs, we can supply a truly better soybean.
Meeting the changing needs of soyfood processors
Canada offers world-class expertise in soybean composition and its impact on utilization and product quality. Our knowledge helps soyfood processors stay a step ahead of their competitors, just as it keeps Canada a step ahead of other soybean suppliers.
High quality starts at the breeding and development stage. Today more than 50 food-grade varieties are grown in Canada, and more are being actively developed and released through public and private breeding programs. Research conducted by universities, government and private companies considers the processing characteristics needed by international customers, as well as the agronomic needs of Canada’s soybean producers.
State-of-the-art elevator system
Canada’s extensive network of grain elevators plays an important role in the delivery of food-quality soybeans. Many elevators have modern Harada roller separators and optical sorting equipment, in addition to their excellent processing lines of cleaners, gravity sorters, destoners and polishers. This equipment ensures that soybeans leave the elevator at the specific quality standard the customer has come to expect.
Highest assurance of food safety
The Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) monitors all food-grade soybeans for trace organics (pesticide residues, mycotoxins), trace elements (including heavy metals) and microbiology (mycology and bacteria). The advanced technology used by the CGC meets the accuracy and precision requirements for ultra-trace levels of pesticides established by importing countries and international organizations such as CODEX.
Many Canadian exporting companies do their own due diligence by having samples analyzed at independent third-party laboratories. This provides additional assurance that the results are below Canadian and international MRLs.
Learn more about:
Food Grade Variety Finder
Use this tool to find soybean varieties that match the characteristics you need.