Canola Oil

© Copyright 2009. All rights reserved and enforced
Rapeseed Oil

Canola Oil is rapeseed oil, but it was felt that it couldn't be marketed in North America under that name, owing to a misunderstanding of the "rape" part of the name. It is also called "Low Erucic Acid Rapeseed" (LEAR) oil, but anything that sounds like "leer" probably wouldn't have done anything to get consumers minds away from the "rape" part. Producers insist, though, that while the Canola seed strain was developed from rapeseed, it is not rapeseed nor is the oil "rapeseed oil."

Be that as it may, there's also the fact that the renaming conveniently produced a name that could be trademarked, while the name "rapeseed" could not be.

The fields that rapeseed grows in are bright yellow from the flowers. You will see these fields all over England, particularly Essex and Cambridge, and in Canada.

Canola is a very popular oil now in Canada, China, India and Japan. It is now available in the UK still sold under the name of "rapeseed oil."

It has a very mild, neutral flavour.

You can also get Cold Pressed, which has a fuller flavour and is a deep yellow colour.

Cooking Tips
Unrefined canola oil will smoke at 225 F (107 C); refined will smoke at 400 F (205 C).

Nutrition
Canola is one of the healthiest oils. It has only 6% saturated fat (compared to olive oil at 14% and soy oil at 15%).

History
During the Second World War, Rapeseed Oil was used by the Royal Canadian Navy as a lubricant for ships' engines.

Rapeseed Oil also had the problem of containing high levels of Erucic Acid, which has shown itself toxic to the hearts of rats in tests. Mustard oil has the same Erucic Acid problem. Canadians kept breeding rapeseed until they developed varieties with very low erucic acid. They bred out the high erucic acid levels, from 40% down to 0.02 to 0.01%, and released the new plant in the 1970s.

The name "Canola" was trademarked in 1978. In 1980, the trademark was transferred to the Canola Council of Canada which encouraged its widespread use, and which even allows it to be used in other countries. The only item that they keep tight control of is the image of the "Canola" flower that appears on some bottles of oil. This image's use is licensed already in about 2 dozen countries.

Language Notes
Rapeseed is related to the cabbage, mustard and turnip family. The name "rapeseed" comes from the Latin word for turnip, rapum.

The name Canola was invented from the words Canadian oil low acid; though now marketers are saying it stands for "Canada" and "oil".

Also called:
Brassica napus L. rape (Scientific Name); Huile de colza (French); Rapsöl (German); Aceite de col (Spanish) Top...