About Canola Oil

[Guest guest]

I found this at the Columbia University Health Services website. Snopes.com also

backs it up ( http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/canola.asp .

 

Dear Alice,

 

I recently received an alarming e-mail regarding the dangers of eating Canola

oil. Apparently it is made from rapeseed, which is supposedly highly toxic and

has been shown to develop cancer in rats. The e-mail also referred me to an

article by a Tom Valentine called " The Canola Oil Report. " I located the report,

read it, and quite frankly, threw out the remaining canola oil I had in the

kitchen. Is there any truth to this article? And if there is, surely this is

criminal.

 

Thank you,

Confused

 

 

 

Dear Confused,

 

Canola oil comes from a hybrid plant developed in Canada during the late 1960s -

1970s using traditional pedigree hybrid propagation techniques (not genetically

modified) involving black mustard, leaf mustard, and turnip rapeseed. The

original rapeseed plant was high in erucic acid, which is an unpalatable fatty

acid having negative health effects in high concentrations. Canola oil contains

less than 1 percent erucic acid. Actually, another name for canola oil is LEAR

(Low Erucic Acid Rapeseed) oil.

 

Your confusion about canola oil's safety is understandable. While the Internet

can be a great source of information, many rumors and urban legends have

circulated on web sites and been passed along in e-mails. Urban legends usually

warn of dire consequences from something perfectly innocent; they often relate a

story about someone who had such a terrible experience with something, yet that

person almost always remains anonymous. These often frightening stories or

accusations usually lack enough detail to make scientific, logical evaluation of

the claim. The scare tactics of canola oil fit into this scenario.

 

Some of the information circulating on the Internet states that canola oil

causes endless maladies: joint pain, swelling, gum disease, constipation,

hearing loss, heart disease, hair loss... the list goes on. Canola oil has

undergone years of extensive testing to assure its safety. In truth, canola oil

contains essential fatty acids that our bodies need and cannot make on their

own. Over 90 percent of the fatty acids present is the long chain unsaturated

variety that has been proven beneficial to health.

 

It has also been claimed that canola oil is used in making mustard gas, a

poison. This is totally untrue. Actually, mustard gas doesn't even come from the

mustard plant; it was so named because it smells similar to mustard. Canola oil

has allegedly been used as an industrial lubricant and ingredient in fuels,

soaps, paints, etc. The truth is that many vegetable oils, such as corn,

soybean, and flax, are also used in these applications. That doesn't make those

oils unhealthy or dangerous. Canola oil has also been accused of killing

insects, such as aphids. Again, all other oils can do the same, not by poisoning

insects, but by suffocating them.

 

Some people have blamed the Canadians for paying the United States government to

have canola oil added to its GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) list. There is

absolutely no evidence of this.

 

In China, rapeseed oil cooked at very high temperatures was found to give off

toxic emissions. In the U.S., the combination of refined oils, added

antioxidants, and lower cooking temperatures prevents this from occurring. In

China, the oil contains contaminants, is not refined, and has no antioxidants.