Re: Canola oil
Because of a non-standard text format in this enquiry, my word processor
refuses to print the text, but to enlarge on comments made by Toni
Hawryluk:-
Hi Toni
Certainly some of the Canola oil produced in Canada is non-GE, because a
while ago there was a court case instigated by a grower of the
conventional crop alleging that adjacent GE crops had contaminated his
seed stocks. I have no idea what the outcome was.
As to the processing, there are as you say two methods of extraction.
Cold pressing and a method which involves either heat or solvents or
perhaps both. I do not know the details of the latter, except that oils
produced by these means are definitely inferior and to be avoided, as
they are at least partly denatured by their treatment.
Even though somewhat more expensive, I always buy vegetable oils of any
sort only of it is specifically stated they are cold-pressed. In this
way one may be sure of getting the desirable nutritional properties they
are supposed to have, such as their proper content of fatty acids.
Because of the changes in them, oils extracted by forced means may not
just be not so good for you, they can contain actual harmful products.
Another thing one has to be careful of with oils that one only actually
cooks with those which will stand relatively high temperatures. The
monounsaturated oils are most suitable for this, of which the best-known
(and probably the best nutritionally) is olive oil, but in respect of
the saturation of it fatty acids Canola is a perfectly good and cheaper
substitute and I have used it quite satisfactorily in the past. I will
not use it now, however, because of the difficulty of ensuring it is
free from GE products. At least nobody has yet messed up the olive,
thank goodness!!
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand. (on the "Ring of Fire" in the SW Pacific).
Lat. 41:16S Long. 174:58E. Climate: Mediterranean/Temperate
