50+ Lifestyles

Where in the World Does Canola Oil Come From?

By Robert Scranton, D.C.
Fibromyalgia Centers of America

Recently I bought cooking oil that’s newer to our supermarkets, canola oil. I tried it because the label assured me it was lowest in “bad” fats. However, when I had used half the bottle, I concluded that the label told me surprisingly little else, and I started to wonder: where does canola oil come from? Olive oil comes from olives, peanut oil comes from peanuts, sunflower oil comes from sunflowers; but what about canola? There was nothing on the label to enlighten me, which I thought odd. So, I did some investigating on the Internet. There are plenty of official Canola sites lauding this new “wonder” oil with all its low-fat health benefits. It takes a little longer to find a site that tells you the less palatable details.

Here are just a few facts everyone should know before buying anything containing canola. Canola is not the name of a natural plant but a made-up word, from the words “Canada” and “oil.’ Canola is a genetically engineered plant developed in Canada from the rapeseed plant, which is part of the mustard family of plants. According to Agri Alternatives, the Online Innovation, and Technology Magazine for Farmers, “By nature, these rapeseed oils, which have long been used to produce oils for industrial purposes, are… toxic to humans and other animals” (this, by the way, is one of the websites singing praises of the new canola industry).

Rapeseed oil is poisonous to living things and is an excellent insect repellent. I have been using it (in very diluted form, as per instructions) to kill the aphids in my garden for the last few years. It works very well; it suffocates them. Ask for it at your nursery. Rape is an oil that is used as a lubricant, fuel, soap and synthetic rubber base and as an illuminate for color pages in magazines. It is industrial oil. It is not a food. Rape oil, it seems causes emphysema, respiratory distress, anemia, constipation, irritability and blindness in animals and humans.

Rape oil was widely used in animal feeds in England and Europe between 1986 and 1991, Remember the “Mad Cow disease” scare, when millions of cattle in the U.K. were slaughtered in case of infecting humans? Cattle were being fed a mixture containing material from dead sheep, and sheep suffer from disease called “scrapie.” It was thought this was how “Mad Cow” began and stared to infiltrate the human chain. What is interesting is that when rape oil was removed from animal feed, “scrapie” disappeared. We also haven’t seen any further reports of “Mad Cow” in that area since rape oil was removed from the feed. Perhaps not scientifically proven, but interesting all the same.

U.S. and Canadian farmers grow genetically engineered rapeseed and manufacturers use its oil (canola) in thousands of processed foods, with the blessing of Canadian and U.S. government watchdog agencies. The canola supporting websites say that canola is safe to use. They admit it was developed from rapeseed, but insist that through genetic engineering it is no longer rapeseed, but “canola” instead. Except canola means “Canadian oil;” and the plant is still a rape plant, albeit genetically modified. The new name provides perfect cover for commercial ingredients lists on labels. Apparently peanut oil is being replaced with rape oil. You’ll find it in an alarming number of processed foods. Check products for ingredients. If the label says, “May contain the following,” and lists canola oil, you could safely guess it contains canola (because it is the cheapest oil). I don’t know what you’ll be cooking with tonight, but I’ll be using olive oil and old-fashioned butter, from a genetically unmodified cow. Here is more information. Canola oil from the rapeseed, referred to as the Canadian oil because Canada is mainly responsible for it being marketed in the U.S. Studies with laboratory animals were disastrous. Rats developed fatty degeneration of heart, kidney, adrenals, and thyroid gland. When canola oil was withdrawn from their diets, the deposits dissolved, but scar tissue remained on all vital organs. No studies on humans were made before money was spent to promote canola oil in the U.S. Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is a rare fatal degenerative disease caused by a build up of long-chain fatty acids, (c22 to c28) which destroys the myelin (protective sheath of the nerves. Canola oil is a very long chain fatty acid oil (c22). Those who will defend canola oil say that the Chinese and Indians have used it for centuries with no effect, however it was in an unrefined form (taken from FATS THAT HEAL AND FATS THAT KILL by Udo Erasmus). My cholesterol level was 150. After a year using canola oil,

I tested 260. I switched back to pure olive oil and it has taken five years to get it down to 160. Thus began this project to find answers, since most doctors will say that canola oil is O.K. My sister spilled canola oil on a piece of fabric, and after five pre-treatings and harsh washings, the oil spot still showed. She stopped using canola oil, wondering what it did to her insides, if it could not be removed from clothes easily. Our father bred birds, always checking labels to insure there was no rape seed in their food. He said, “The birds will eat it, but they do not live very long.” Rape seed oil is a penetrating oil, to be used in industry, not human consumption. It still contains toxic substance even after the processing to reduce the erucic acid content. We have found that it turned rancid very fast. Also it leaves a residual rancid odor on clothing. Rape seed oil used for stir frying in China found to omit cancer causing chemicals (Rapeseed oil smoke can also cause lung cancer) Amal Kumar Maj. The Wall Street Journal June 7, 1995 pB6(W) pB6 (E) col1 (11 col in). Darleen Bradley said canola oil is a health hazard to use as a cooking oil or salad oil. It is not the healthy oil we thought it was. It is not fit for human consumption. Do not eat canola oil, it can hurt you. Polyunsaturated or not, this is a bad oil.

With permission by Dr. Darrell Drumwright.

Robert Scranton, D.C., Fibromyalgia Centers of America, Community Chiropractic Center, can be reached at
(309) 749-7405