Rapeseed oil
There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae.
It is also known as low erucic acid rapeseed (LEAR) oil and is generally recognized as safe by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
[12] Rapeseed oil extracts were first put on the market in 1956–1957 as food products, but these suffered from several unacceptable characteristics.
That form of rapeseed oil had a distinctive taste and a greenish colour due to the presence of chlorophyll and still contained a higher concentration of erucic acid.
[13] Canola was bred from rapeseed cultivars of B. napus and B. rapa at the University of Manitoba, Canada, by Keith Downey and Baldur R. Stefansson in the early 1970s,[14][15] having then a different nutritional profile than present-day oil in addition to much less erucic acid.
However, one of the researchers agrees that "feral populations could have become established after trucks carrying cultivated GM seeds spilled some of their load during transportation".
[26] Canada was the world's largest exporter of rapeseed oil in 2021, shipping 3.1 million tonnes or approximately 74% of its total production.
In China, rapeseed meal is mostly used as a soil fertilizer rather than for animal feed,[28] while canola is used mainly for frying food.
In the words of one observer, "China has a vegetable oil supply shortage of 20 million tonnes per year.
[30] In 2003, Australia's gene technology regulator approved the release of canola genetically modified to make it resistant to glufosinate ammonium, a herbicide.
The Canadian Supreme Court ruled that Percy was in violation of Monsanto's patent because he knowingly isolated and replanted the resistant seed that he had harvested.
[citation needed] Canola vegetable oils certified as organic are required to be from non-GMO rapeseed.
In 2006, canola oil was given a qualified health claim by the United States Food and Drug Administration for lowering the risk of coronary heart disease, resulting from its significant content of unsaturated fats; the allowed claim for food labels states:[50]"Limited and not conclusive scientific evidence suggests that eating about 1 1⁄2 tablespoons (19 grams) of canola oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the unsaturated fat content in canola oil.
To achieve this possible benefit, canola oil is to replace a similar amount of saturated fat and not increase the total number of calories you eat in a day.
"A 2013 review, sponsored by the Canola Council of Canada and the U.S. Canola Association, concluded there was a substantial reduction in total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and an increase in tocopherol levels and improved insulin sensitivity, compared with other sources of dietary fat.
[49] A 2014 review of health effects from consuming plant oils rich in alpha-linolenic acid, including canola, stated that there was moderate benefit for lower risk of cardiovascular diseases, bone fractures, and type-2 diabetes.
[52] Consumption of canola oil has been shown to reduce body weight when compared with saturated fat.
[53] Regarding individual components, canola oil is low in saturated fat and contains both omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids in a ratio of 2:1.
[54] Although wild rapeseed oil contains significant amounts of erucic acid,[62] the cultivars used to produce commercial, food-grade canola oil were bred to contain less than 2% erucic acid,[4] an amount deemed not significant as a health risk.
[67] Canola oil is generally recognized as safe by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
[71][72] It is not completely clear which genetic changes from plant breeding resulted in the current reduction in this group of chemicals.
[105] Rapeseed oil was used in Gombault's Caustic Balsam,[106] a popular horse and human liniment at the turn of the 20th century.
[112] This cold process means that the oil has a low smoke point, and is therefore unsuitable for frying in Sichuan cuisine, for example.
