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Nagging Question
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Where Does Canola Oil Come From?The origins of the controversy-plagued oil |
Where does canola oil come from?
It’s pressed from the seeds of a special variety of Brassica napus, a plant in the mustard family closely related to bok choi and turnips. Brassica napus’s unfortunate common name is rapeseed (from rapum, Latin for “turnip”). But that’s not its only problem. Rapeseed typically contains high levels of erucic acid (which makes oils go rancid quickly, is toxic in large doses, and may cause cancer) and glucosinolate (which tastes so bitter and unpleasant that it’s undesirable even in animal feed). But in the 1950s and 1960s, Canadian scientists began developing strains of it with lower levels of the problematic chemicals. In 1974, a University of Manitoba professor named Baldur Steffanson introduced a rapeseed variety with extremely low erucic acid and glucosinolate content that was dubbed canola, for CANadian Oil, Low Acid.
Thanks to the name (in Europe the oil is still called rapeseed oil, or even—take this, marketers—rape oil), canola growers have spoken carefully when describing their product. “Canola is genetically totally different from rapeseed,” says Sheri Coleman, director of marketing for the Northern Canola Growers Association, despite the fact that the plants are the same species. A particularly vicious e-mail rumor that falsely blamed canola for mad cow disease and claimed it was the source of mustard gas made the rounds a few years back, and public misconceptions still plague producers. In reality, canola oil was granted a qualified health claim by the FDA that its low saturated-fat content reduces the risk of heart disease.
There is some legitimate controversy, however. More than 60 percent of the canola crop in Canada (where most of it is grown) comes from genetically modified seed, making it illegal in Europe and opposed by activists throughout the world.
What is the objection to herbicide tolerance? The environmental benefits of using Roundup quite out-weigh the use of conventional energy intensive, usually high tillage (soil damging) weed control methods.
Rapeseed oil always made me shudder when I saw it on shelves in the UK-- just my Stateside sensibilities leaking out, I suppose. But what interested me more was how soy(a) oil was the most common cooking lubricant I noticed in peoples' kitchens.
I think that supporters of hedgerows or biodiversity, or simply people with gardens or non-herbicide resistent crops near the heavy users of roundup, who may be adversely affected, will disagree with your view.
Dumb question. . .is this related at all to grapeseed oil?
Nope. Grapeseed oil is pressed from, not to sound pedantic, the seeds of grapes.
The stuff is still commonly called rape in rural Canada too, where I grew up. The cool thing is that the same plant is grown in China, where I now live, and is sold as a green vegetable - the name translates to 'oil vegetable'. It is eaten just as it starts to bud and is really good -spinach without the oxylates. I love it as a salad green.
Whatever it's called, am I the only one who thinks canola/rapeseed Oil has a horrible, fishy, rancid smell and taste? Is there something in there that only a few unlucky people can sense? Just wondering. I can't stand the stuff, but no one else at the table ever seems to notice the odor of rancid garbage wafting from their canola-drenched fajitas, or the horrid, bitter taste of their salad dressing.
Just about any other oil is a good substitute. Canola oil is the only one that bothers me like this.
You're not alone .... I often get that scent of fish when I'm around Canola Oil. It's not my oil of choice.
What's the UK's obsession with "groundnut" oil (aka peanut oil). Why has this been the oil of choice, rather than veg or sunflower oil?
Using "rapeseed" makes me shudder too crlyhead11. It's just erk.
Peanut Oil is popular because it has a very high buring point, so you can use it in more applications without it burning or smoking. It is used often in stirfrying ( high heat!!) because many other oils smoke and burn at the sme temperature.And it is cheap.
We've become big grapeseed oil fans, thanks to Ming Tsai raving about it on TV and Trader Joe's selling at a reasonable price.
Speaking of oil with high smoking point, we've been enthusiastic about rice bran oil. We've tried this oil for pan frying and stirfying with very good results. Apparently some restaurants in the US are using rice bran oil in place of the dreaded hydrogenated oils, aka trans fat. Websites noted that it is actuall good for you. I haven't heard much discussions about this oil and wondered if it's that good, why hasn't it caught on with people. Anyone know why rice bran oil would not be good?
I think Canola oil has a wierd taste. The origins make me very sceptical so I just avoid it. Hi Margret-I like rice oil for most kitchen uses including baking.
I'm another person who thinks Canola oil tastes "off' -- I won't have it in the house.
Rice bran oil is great -- very neutral taste and high smoke point, but it's relatively expensive and I've only seen it in specialty stores.
The rapeseed crop is just coming into flower in the UK, turning much of the countryside bright yellow. You might like to see my photos at www.tracingpaper.org.uk.
I don't think rice oil is expensive. I now buy it in 25 ounces for around 8 bucks-not bad for a healthy cooking oil. I heard that it is loaded with antioxidants more so than olive or canola!!
For what it's worth, using the verb "press" when you're talking about these oils is virtually always incorrect. The vast majority of canola, soy, grapeseed, and other vegetable oils are extracted with the petroleum derivative hexane or something similar.
Does peanut oil get produced with Hexane, too? I don't think it is cheap -- esp. when I have deep fried a turkey in it! I also do not like canola. Smells funny. But I don't have a problem with genetic engineering of plants for different traits. It was done by farmers and botanists long, long before it had that name!
This is the first I've heard of canola oil having a strange aroma; I don't detect it. I use it because it has a smoke point almost as high as grapeseed oil and it is affordable. Unlike peanuts, I'm not allergic to canola.
I have never heard bad taste or smell of canola oil before. really !?
In my country (I 'm from asia), many pastry chefs recomended canola oil for baking because of their
'no color,no taste' I thought so, I still think so.
I have no problem using canola oil.
I have never heard bad taste or smell of canola oil before. really !?
In my country (I 'm from asia), many pastry chefs recomended canola oil for baking because of their
'no color,no taste' I thought so, I still think so.
I have no problem using canola oil.
Count me in the "canola oil is too fishy for me" camp. A local gourmet shop recently switcehd from packaging their roasted marinated tomatoes in canola instead of olive... now I can't stand the taste/smell of this item, which used to be a favorite.
The odor that some of you have talked about above is actually the omega 3 portion of the oil or alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). ALA is a very good and essential fat that helps reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke. This portion of the fatty acid is more delicate and can give off that odor when it starts to break down from length of high heat cooking or oil that has gone beyond its expiration. The reason that other oils do not smell like that is because they do not have much of the omega 3 like canola oil, with the exception of flax...which you don't cook with and only consume in small amounts and primarily in meal form. Canola oil also has the same smoke point as peanut oil, but no peanut taste and less than half the saturated fat.