In our last edition of Kindred Spirit we featured a piece on canola oil called What is Canola Oil? It then came to our attention that some of the assertions made in the piece were false, especially with regards to the fragile area of genetic modification. We’d like to clarify those points so that your information about canola oil is as up to date and correct as possible.The article mentions that all canola is derived from genetically modified rape seed plants. However, this is not the case. Canola oil comes from a hybrid plant developed from using traditional pedigree hybrid propagation techniques (this is not genetic modification) involving black mustard, leaf mustard, and turnip rapeseed. The original rapeseed plant was high in erucic acid, which is an unpalatable fatty acid having negative health effects in high concentrations. Canola oil has been created from specially bred plants to have low concentrations of erucic acid and contains less than one percent.
With that said, much of the canola now coming from North America has been genetically modified. GM Canola has all kinds of ethical, economic and health issues separate to conventional canola due to the fact that it is GM, not because it is canola. GM canola is also about to be given the go ahead to be planted in Australia, and there is a fierce campaign operating to try and prevent this from happening.
We’d also like to point out that the article implies canola oil is used as a poison to get rid of insects (such as aphids), even though the author mentions that she drowns them using the oil. Other oils can do the same, not by poisoning insects, but by suffocating them. It's a kind of factual sleight-of-hand that undermines true research behind the subject.
We at Kindred would apply the Precautionary Principle when considering canola oil for topical or internal use. Given that a there remains wide debate about its safety, and that there are other healthier alternatives, it would be wise to exclude it from one’s lifestyle. While it is important to keep the issue of canola free of fear-mongering and fact-twisting, consumers do have a reason to use caution.
With thanks to Jane Thompson
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5 comments:
Thank you for the clarification on Canola Oil. Can you further expand on the safety of rapeseed oil - from which Canola Oil is derived, for topical use on infants? Are there any considerations for rapeseed oil the way there is for Canola Oil?
The pressing issue facing us here in Australia is of course the incredibly stupid go ahead a couple of state governments are about to give to GM canola. The research shows (as well as logic) that you cannot keep GM canola confined within the boundaries of a farm and that it will inevitably spread itself into the non GM crops. Vested interests are at work and science has been thrown out the window. Sounds pretty much business as usual doesn't it...
Hey Suzpreese - information on the safety of topical use of rape seed oil on infants is not easy to come by. Rapeseed grown for culinary purposes is quite low in erucic acid, which is the acid that is toxic to humans. However, given that infants are developmentally fragile, and the skin is the largest 'digestion' organ of the body, and given that using rapeseed oil as a massage oil means that infants are ingesting more oil than they might if they swallowed it, I would be using the Precautionary Principal, and refrain from using an oil that has any potential harm linked to it. There are so many other alternatives - like sweet almond oil.
The orginal article came up in a search for info on canola. One thing that was stated in the original article but I do beleive to be false is the assertion that rapeseed is the source of mustard gas. All info I have found emphatically contradicts this. Here is a link to a Materials Safety sheet for mustard gas in which the components of mustard gas are listed: http://www.castleviewuk.com/Frameless/Safe/msds/ex/MSDS_mustard.htm. Hope this sheds some light on that particular issue. I have decided that I will discontinue use of canola except to oil my tools, since I'm stuck with a nice supply otherwise.
Personally, I think that the original article should be either removed from you site or only referenced to by this correction article. Anyone not clicking on the update to this article will be left misinformed, or worse, will copy the article and send it to friends. This supposed article by Darlene Bradley is an internet hoax that has been propagating throughout the internet for quite some time and I have too many health sites using it and misinforming people. I just once again received this by email from my sister of all people this morning.
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