More mythbusting: is canola toxic?
Posted by kathryn in Fats & oils and Myths
There are some foods which seem surrounded in confusion, myths and half-truths. Soy is one of these and I’ve seen it labelled as toxic, birth control for babies and likely to turn you gay. I’ve already written some posts about the confusion over soy.
Another food surrounded by dodgy claims is canola and Melanie of Dietriffic has written a myth-busting post: is canola oil healthy?
One of the most persistent charges against canola states it was first produced by genetic engineering of the rapeseed plant. Given concerns about genetically engineered foods, the thought is all canola must be bad.
This is simply not true. Canola is a type of rapeseed bred to have low levels of erucic acid. It’s the product of natural and traditional plant breeding techniques, not genetic modification. As Melanie says:
Canola oil comes from the rape seed, which is part of the mustard family of plants. Before 1971, oil prepared from rapeseed contained erucic acid in the range of 30 to 60%. In animal studies, these high levels had been associated with cardiac lesions. For this reason rapeseed oil was considered unhealthy for human consumption. As a result, rapeseed varieties were bred using traditional, natural plant breeding techniques.
While GE canola does now exist, the canola plant itself is not a result of genetic engineering. For more about the health effects of canola take a look at Melanie’s post.
02 October, 2007
Comments
I’d be interested in the residual toxic effects of the chemicals used on rapeseed. This was long ago but my father and friedns were shooting on a rapeseed field that had been sprayed with a chemical that strips the leaves leaving the seed for harvest. Their dogs became ill and their trousers and rubber boots were rotted way. this was a while agao and the technique may have improved but I just wonder…
That’s interesting Ed, thanks for leaving your comment. I don’t know enough about how canola is farmed to comment on this situation.
My issue with a lot of the canola information is it’s saying the actual plant itself is toxic, based on faulty information. What you’re highlighting is a problem with the way the plant is farmed. And I’d guess if they’re doing that to canola, then they’re doing similar things to other foods?
It’s all part of the argument for more environmental and health-concious farming though.
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