Canola oil has been touted as a healthy oil due to its low saturated fat and high monounsaturated oil content - the latter almost 60% - and beneficial omega-3 fatty acids profile. The Canola Council of Canada states it is completely safe and is the healthiest of all commonly used cooking oils.[4] Traditional rapeseed oil contains very high amounts of erucic acid and glucosinolates, both of which are undesirable for human consumption. Erucic acid is implicated with cancer and rancidity and glucosinolates are goitrogenic. Canola oil reduces them to very low levels - 0.5-5% for erucic acid for example - without eradicating them completely.
Nonetheless, the oil generated controversy. In March 1996 John Thomas published an article, "Blindness, Mad Cow Disease and Canola Oil", in Perceptions magazine, implicating Canola oil with glaucoma and the Mad Cow Disease. [5] This article was taken up, condensed and widely circulated in a story via emails. The industry condemns this as an email hoax and states its claims to be wholly unsubstantiated.
In Nexus Magazine, Volume 9, Number 5 (Aug-Sept 2002), however [6], dieticians Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary G. Enig published another article, called "The Great Con-ola", questioning the industry's marketing claims, stating that Canola oil 'has a number of undesirable health effects when used as the main source of dietary fats'. They cite many independent studies done in the late 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, which show animals fed on a pure Canola oil-based diet suffers from vitamin E deficiency, a decrease in blood platelets count, an increase in platelet size, and shortened life-spans. Canola oil also seemingly retards growth, which was why the FDA prohibited its use in infant formula. The authors state that most omega-3s in canola oil are transformed into trans fats during the deodorisation process, quoting a University of Florida study which found trans fat content in Canola oil to be as high as 4.6%.[7] Trans fat-free canola alternatives have been developed, though they remain a minority in the market. |
