The Truth… Canola Oil

How safe is Canola Oil? We asked impartial professionals in the fields of nutrition, biology and food science to answer questions. So here’s their answers.
 
Q: What is canola oil?
 
A: Canola oil is the healthiest of all commonly used cooking oils. It is lowest in saturated fat, high in cholesterol-lowering mono-unsaturated fat and the best source of omega-3 fats of all popular oils.
Canola oil comes from pressed canola seed harvested from pods that are formed after the beautiful yellow flowers you’ve probably seen in the summer fade away. North American farmers have been growing canola seed for over 30 years.
 
Canola is not rapeseed. It looks the same on the outside but it’s different on the inside. In the late 1960s, plant scientists used traditional plant breeding methods to get rid of rapeseed’s undesirable qualities – erucic acid and glucosinolates. That means canola oil and meal are different from rapeseed oil and meal.
 
Q: Have human studies been conducted on the consumption of canola oil?
 
A: Yes. Clinical studies conducted over the past 20 years examined the role of canola oil in lowering blood cholesterol levels and reducing risk of coronary heart disease, cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure.
 
The studies confirmed that when used as part of a balanced diet, canola oil has been shown to lower blood cholesterol levels and have a beneficial effect on clot formation, thereby decreasing risk of heart disease and stroke.
 
Canola oil contains 7% saturated fat compared to, for example, 15% for olive oil, 19% from peanut oil and 12% for sunflower oil.
 
Q: Is canola oil safe for animals and humans?
 
A: Yes. Before being approved for food use, canola oil was required to go through stringent animal feeding trials to ensure it was a safe edible oil.
 
Q: Was canola developed using genetic engineering?
 
A: Canola was developed using traditional plant breeding techniques, so it was not developed using biotechnology. However, about 80% of the canola grown in Canada has now been modified using biotechnology to make it tolerant to some herbicides. Using these specific herbicides has reduced the amount of chemicals needed for weed control in the fields.
 
Remember, the canola plant has been modified, not the oil. So canola oil from the herbicide tolerant plant is exactly the same, safe and healthy oil as canola oil from conventional plants. The modification has been made to only one canola gene and it is a protein. Processing removes all proteins from canola oil. That means canola oil made from GM seed is conventional canola oil.
 
Q: Are canola oil and rapeseed oil poisonous to living things?
 
A: No. Canola oil has been thoroughly tested and is guaranteed safe and beneficial for humans.
Hydrogenated rapeseed oil is also safe and is in fact approved by Canadian and US food regulatory agencies for use as a food product emulsifier. When rapeseed oil is fully hydrogenated, its erucic acid becomes behenic acid; a natural saturated fatty acid found in peanuts and peanut butter. Some peanut butter brands contain very small amounts of hydrogenated rapeseed oil to prevent the peanut oil from separating from the peanut butter.
 
Rapeseed is grown on very limited acreages in North America under contract between the grower and the buyer. It doesn’t get into the regular grain handling system.
 
Q: Can canola oil and rapeseed be used as lubricants, penetrating oils, fuel, soap, paints, etc?
 
A: Yes. Any plant sourced oil such as olive, corn, soybean and flax can be used industrially to make lubricants, oils, fuel, soaps, paints, plastics, cosmetics or inks. In fact, any organic hydrocarbon (including ALL vegetable oils) can be processed and denatured to make industrial chemicals. Proteins in milk can be used to make glue. Wheat and canola can be used to make ethanol, an ingredient in “gasohol” and canola seed can be used to produce bio-diesel.
 
But just because you can do this doesn’t make the approved food canola oil or corn oil, for example that you buy at the grocery store somehow poisonous or harmful!
 
Q: Does canola form “latex-like substances which agglutinate red blood corpuscles”? 

A: No. In fact, canola oil has good effects on your blood. Canola oil is a good source of alpha-linolenic acid or ALA, for short. ALA is an essential omega-3 fatty acid required in the human diet because our bodies cannot make it.
 
Animal and human clinical studies show ALA has many of beneficial effects on blood clotting, platelet aggregation and the vascular system as omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish such as salmon and mackerel.
 
Q: Does canola oil cause emphysema, respiratory distress, anemia, constipation, irritability, and blindness in animals and humans?
 
A: No. After extensive animal and human testing, canola oil has been proven to be absolutely safe to consume and will not produce these or any other diseases or conditions.
 
Q: Does canola oil turn rancid quickly?
 
A: No. Canola oil’s shelf life stored at room temperature is about one year. Except for flaxseed oil, the shelf life of other vegetable oils stored at room temperature is similar. Flaxseed oil should be stored in the refrigerator.
 
Q: Does canola contain cyanide?
  
A: No, canola does not contain cyanide. Canola contains compounds that sound a little like that - isothiocyanates, compounds found naturally in many foods, especially in cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, turnips and canola.
 
Isothiocyanates are sulphur-containing compounds that have anti-cancer properties. In rats and mice, isothiocyanates inhibit the development of tumors in esophagus, mammary and lung tissue. Isothiocyanates appear to act by interfering with the metabolism of cancer agents and increasing their removal from the body. The cancer-fighting properties of cabbage, cauliflower and the other members of the mustard family are likely due to their isothiocyanate content.
 
Q: Is canola made of a “very long chain fatty acid oil (c22)” that can cause a degenerative disease?
 
A: No. Canola oil’s fatty acid profile consists predominantly (over 90%) of the 18 carbon unsaturated fatty acids oleic acid, linoleic acid and linolenic acid. Canola does not cause or contribute to any disease and in fact, it can improve health. The positive effects of canola’s unsaturated fatty acids on certain health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, are well documented.
 
Q: Do the glycosides in canola suppress the immune system?
 
A: No. There is no evidence that canola oil depresses the immune system.