A popular food for pet birds is having a challenging time getting a foothold in the more lucrative human food market.

It was announced one year ago that de-hulled, hairless canary seed had been given the green light for human consumption in both Canada and the United States.

Canary seed flour can be used to make bread, cookies, cereals and pastas. Whole seeds can be used in nutrition bars and sprinkled on hamburger buns in place of sesame seed.

But Kevin Hursh, Executive Director of the Canaryseed Development Commission of Saskatchewan, says the problem is they don't have commercial de-hullers set up yet