8. Canola Conundrum
I have a British friend who has a ‘thinker’ personality type. She played the devil’s advocate with me about the canola oil we use in our soap. I’m so grateful she questioned me thoroughly because I researched it even more and uncovered some interesting facts to tell her which I’d also like to share with you to put your mind at ease.
When I bought my first 20 litres of the oil direct from the manufacturer’s farm, I’d seconded another (Tasmanian) friend to accompany me on a drive in the countryside (we stopped and rescued a new-born lamb that had escaped from its paddock on the way home). According to my research on this oil, it was non-GMO and single (virgin) cold-pressed. Sounds lovely, right?
Wrong! According to my English friend, it was poison. I wondered why she would say that. I knew that canola had been developed by Canadians (and named by combining two words: Canada and ‘ola’, or oil) in the 1970s. But why did they tamper with the original rapeseed plants? It was because of the 30-60% erucic acid their seeds contained. This is a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid. Canola was developed to be a ‘low-erucic acid rapeseed’ (LEAR) containing fats made up of oleic acid, rather than erucic acid. By definition, canola contains less than 2% erucic acid.
Now then, what’s wrong with erucic acid and what’s good about oleic acid? Studies conducted on rats showed that erucic acid had harmful effects, such as heart lesions. However, they were fed toxic levels of the acid (70% of their diet), and their metabolism is different to humans. Researchers concluded that an adult human would need to ingest 500 mg of erucic acid per day for there to be ill-effects. To date, no health effects have been associated with dietary consumption of erucic acid by humans. And oleic acid, the main component of olive oil, is regarded as quite safe, and indeed beneficial for humans.
I did find information pertaining to the ‘poison’ idea:
In May 1981 in Spain, hundreds of people died, and thousands were poisoned by the consumption of rapeseed oil (McMichael 1981). Erucic acid has been implicated, by some, as the causative agent for this “toxic oil syndrome” (James 1994). [Yet] chemical analyses of samples of the oil obtained from families who fell ill revealed that the oil was, in fact, a mixture of industrial rapeseed oil, soybean oil, olive oil, and animal fats that had been purposely denatured with 2% aniline and was never intended to be used as an edible oil (Tabeunca 1981, Gollob 1981). When the oil was heated, toxic anilides [chemicals] were formed.
So, the unfortunate people who were poisoned had unknowingly consumed contaminated oil!
It is worthwhile mentioning at this point that so-called ‘food-grade’ canola oil goes through an extraction process. The oil is expelled using solvents (commonly Hexane) to remove the most oil possible. This is the majority of canola oil available in today’s market — it offers the lowest price point.
In closing, I want to remind you that the canola oil we use is not genetically modified and is cold pressed. It is as natural as possible and that is why we choose to include it in our all-Tasmanian soaps.
Footnote: A genetic disease called adrenoleukodystrophy, has had good results with ‘Lorenzo’s Oil’ (also a hit movie of the same name). It is a mixture of oleic and erucic acids.
GENERAL DISCLAIMER
The contents of this sharing are for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment . . . Read More →
