Bay State Milling is in the midst of an expansion at its Saskatoon oat processing plant.

Bay State Milling describes itself as one of the largest family-owned, privately held milling companies in the United States. It has 11 facilities in the U.S. processing a variety of grains. It also has a large facility on the eastern outskirts of Saskatoon that was commissioned in 2018. That plant is dedicated to gluten-free oats and is in the process of doubling capacity.

Mark Maloney, senior director of sales for Bay State Milling says the company is also launching a new brand of gluten-free oats.

“We just recently announced that we’re launching a brand called PurelySown which highlights our security protocol for gluten-free oats,” said Maloney. “Our standard is less than 5 parts per million for gluten content on oats.”

Five parts per million is significantly below the 20 PPM limit set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the 10 PPM limit set by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization.

To achieve the standard, fields must be wheat-free for three years with no bordering gluten-containing crops. As well, dedicated gluten-free equipment must handle all the harvesting, transport, storage and processing.

Bay State Milling is actively contracting oats with producers for the upcoming growing season.