The Hype
If you google ‘canola oil’ these days, you will see a barrage of websites claiming that it is poison, toxic, and a terrible and unhealthy oil, that it is not even a real oil. Yikes, sounds pretty scary.
This has made me think twice. As a dietitian, back in college we were informed that canola has a very good nutrition profile and is a good healthy oil to use and recommend.
Once again, I am reading two very different sides to one story. Hence the need to break it down..is it safe and healthy or poison?
The Science
Let’s start with the origins of canola oil. It comes from the rape plant (apparently the word rape comes from the latin word from turnip). The rape plant is in the family of brassica plants, which also includes mustard, broccoli, cabbage, kale, and other good-for-you foods.
Oil from the seed of the rape plant has been used as an industrial lubricant since the 1940s. Since it was common, and had a good nutritional profile, they wanted to use it as an edible oil too. The rape plant, however, contains a high level of something called erucic acid. Erucic acid is a fatty acid that has been linked to heart damage, and is considered quite toxic.
An agricultural scientist came along in the 1950s, and decided to see if he could make it a safe edible oil. After years and years of conventionally, selectively breeding the rape plant, Richard Downey finally produced a rape plant with a non-toxic level (less than 2%) of erucic acid. (FYI conventionally breeding, or selective breeding, is not genetic modification. It is like choosing the best out of a group of plants and continuously breeding the plants with the most desirable characteristics). So, now here was a safe, edible oil with a good nutrition profile, called rapeseed oil. Is it any wonder they wanted to change the name? So, they did, and marketed it as canola oil (something to do with being from Canada).
To process canola oil from the seed, it goes through quite a process. High heat and chemical solvents are used to extract the oil from the seed. Of course there are other methods, such as simply pressing the oil out of the seed, but this heat and chemical process is quite efficient (and controversial as you may imagine). You can read about the oil extraction process here from the Canola Council of Canada…
http://www.canolacouncil.org/oil-and-meal/what-is-canola/how-canola-is-processed/steps-in-oil-and-meal-processing/ .
This is a common process for many oils in the food market today; using high heat and the chemical hexane as a solvent for separating the oil from the protein of the seed or nut. Unfortuantely, high heat can alter the fatty acid composition of the oil (actually change the oil structure), and hexane is classified as a neurotoxin by the EPA (environmental protection agency). Supposedly there is no hexane left in the final food product – this is something worth investigating for another topic.
So, there we have the origins and processing of canola oil. Let’s look at the nutrition profile:
Per 1 tbsp of canola oil (2):
124 calories and 14g fat. 1 gram saturated fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat, and a trace 0.5 g trans fat*. Also contains 2.44 milligrams of Vitamin E, and is considered to be an oil high in omega 3’s (good-for-you fats).
*I would like to point out that the trans fat is a side effect derived from the high-heat during processing. High heat processing is also know to denture omega fats.
My Two Cents
I can see how this information can be confusing. Here is the breakdown in a nutshell:
Canola oil : good points
1. It has a good nutrition profile, as monounsaturated fats and omega fats are very good for our body.
2.It has a high smoke point, which makes it a good oil for cooking (we do not want an oil to smoke while cooking, this can change the structure of the fat and make it unhealthy). It is almost flavorless, and can be used in a variety of foods because of this.
Canola oil : bad points
1. The common processing of canola oil heats the oil and uses a toxin called hexane. This alters the nutrition of the oil an potentially leaves toxic residue on the oil. This process is used because it is cheap and efficient.
2. It is commonly genetically modified with the chemical glyphosphate (otherwise known as ‘roundup’). It is one of the most genetically modified foods available, along with soy and corn. It is commonly used in food processing and is in many, many processed foods.
Bottom line – Canola oil would be a healthy oil if it wasn’t processed with heat and toxins and genetically modified. The good news – you can find cold-pressed, non-genetically modified (non-gmo) canola oil out there. It’s not as common, and will cost you a bit more, but that is what I recommend. I found a bottle of canola oil at a local health food store with this written on the label: “Our canola oil is expeller-pressed and uses no chemicals or solvents during the extraction process. The plants used are not genetically altered”. In my book, this equals safe and healthy canola oil.
I find it unfortunate, but true, that we have to be detectives to find out what we are eating. Alas, that is what this blog is all about. A seemingly good for you oil source has been bastardized to the point where people refer to it as toxic and poison on our grocery store shelves. This is also the case with soy and corn, because of ‘big industry’ and what they do to our food in their labs.
There are companies out there that are determined to keep it real. I will continue to support these companies by buying their unadulterated food products. If you can find cold-pressed or expeller pressed, non-gmo canola oil, then go for it! If it does not clarify on the label, you can bet it is genetically modified and uses the high heat/chemical extraction process.
References:
Richard Downey http://www.science.ca/scientists/scientistprofile.php?pID=348
USDA nutrient database http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/695?fgcd=&manu=&lfacet=&format=&count=&max=35&offset=&sort=&qlookup=canola+oil
