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Canola vs Extra Virgin Olive Oil

32K views 56 replies 29 participants last post by  javierfaro 
#1 ·
Which do you guys think is the better choice for medium temperature cooking? I have read positive to both. I've also read that Canola comes from some cancer causing seed; not sure if I believe that but olive does seem to have the longer history.
 
#27 ·
Todays Canola is  a far cry from the original oil. Today it is extracted from the canola seed from a yellow flowering plant that  who's original was treated and all the bad things removed. The original however was not like this, and was used to produce oil based paints.. Medical claims for it today appear all over the internet, however as one claim states non have been FULLY substantiated. I use it home and at work for deep frying.
 
#28 · (Edited)
And... as I've said to you (peterd) - I've never seen Canola oil in any shop here in the UK.  I'm not saying it's not available - just that I have never seen the product.

If YOU can't take that on board, then you're right, there is no sense in  carrying on the conversation. 

BTW - IMO, 'at least one trip a year' wouldn't make you au fait with the UK - just ask Siduri, who travels here from Italy (although she was brought up the USA) a few times a year.
 
#29 ·
Canola oil contains small amounts erucic acid that can trigger digestive problems for some people. Personally I stay away from it. Like BDL I use corn oil for high heat and deep frying and olive oil for pan sautes and even high heat searing. Some specialty oils like sesame for adding flavor to stir fry.
 
#30 · (Edited)
Canola oil contains small amounts erucic acid that can trigger digestive problems for some people. Personally I stay away from it. Like BDL I use corn oil for high heat and deep frying and olive oil for pan sautes and even high heat searing. Some specialty oils like sesame for adding flavor to stir fry.
Mary the new process canola has gotten the erucic acid out, at least from what I read in government reports.and the stuff marketed today is a far cry from the old product.Even the manufacturing process has changed.. I love olive oils on salads but I do not cook with it because the oils have a distinct flavor that sometime over powers what I am making.
 
#31 ·
Ishbel,

You have seen Canola Oil, the only difference is it is called Rapeseed Oil in Europe.

Here is a Telegraph article that says that Rapeseed Oil comes from the Canola plant.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/3345221/Bee-Wilson-rapeseed-oil.html

I am not sure if the difference is a matter of North American versus European usage or if it is because Canola is a trademark.

You can verify this for yourself. "Natural" Rapeseed Oil has a distinctive extremely bitter taste. Canola oil was specifically bread to have a fairly neutral taste.

Canola Oil also has very distinctive nutritional profile because of its breeding. Canola Oil is low in saturated fats, 6%, and high in monounsaturated, 62%, and polyunsaturated, 32%, fats. Canola Oil is also high in Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids in a desirable 2:1 ratio. Canola Oil is also a good source of Vitamin E.

https://canola-council.merchantsecure.com/canola_resources/product52.aspx

You can compare that to nutritional labels at your local store or compare it with these UK Rapeseed Oil producers.

http://hillfarmoils.com/

http://farrington-oils.co.uk/

http://laemunns.com/

http://r-oil.co.uk/

http://www.sussexgold.co.uk/da/87445

http://www.wharfevalleyfarms.co.uk/

http://www.borderfieldsrapeseedoil.co.uk/

Note the low saturated fat (half that of Olive Oil), high in unsaturated fat, good source of Omega-3 and high in Vitamin E.

General Links

Canola Oil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canola_oil

Keith Downey http://www.science.ca/scientists/scientistprofile.php?pID=348

Baldur Stefansson http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0007687

Canola Council of Canada http://www.canolacouncil.org/canola_oil_the_truth.aspx

Mayo Clinic http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/canola-oil/AN01281

Urban Legends http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/canola.asp
 
#34 ·
I'm not sure, allanm, if any of your references are actually from scientific journals (subject to peer review, so the methods are controlled).  Internet is full of all kinds of stuff, and if you have the canola oil council stating something you might suspect some bias.  There can also be plenty of "scientific" sites that simply express an opinion of an individual, or that could actually be put out by someone with a specific interest, either in favor or against the product. 

I also distrust medical sites, even with prestigious names like mayo clinic. 

Best to see the actual research that they base their findings on. 

It;s only an idle curiosity, because i can't find either canola or rapeseed oil here, and i don't much see the point in going looking for it, since there are plenty of functional oils that have been around a very long time and so any negative long-term effects are likely to have come to the surface. 

In fact, i tend to always prefer something that has been around for a while for that reason - we know the side effects of aspirin, it's got a very long history - paracetamol and ibuprophen are more recent. Other stuff even more so.   Unless i'm having an attack of gastritis, i'll go with the aspirin! 
 
#35 · (Edited)
Quote Alanm; "...You have seen Canola Oil, the only difference is it is called Rapeseed Oil in Europe...."

There's a yes and a no in your remark.

In Europe -and especially in dutch spoken countries-, there are 2 different kinds of oils that refer to Canola!

Let me explain. There's koolzaadolie and raapzaadolie. Koolzaad and raapzaad are the dutch names of the plants and olie simply means oil. An important side-note to make this even more complicated; both oils are called in french huile de colza.

BTW, "koolzaad" (hence the sound of the french word Colza) is one of the 2 dutch words that have sneeked their way into french (the other is kermis if you want to know)!!

Both plants look very much the same, but raapzaad (hence the name rapeseed) isn't cultivated all that much. It was used for industrial purposes. Nowadays, there's practically no other cultivation than "koolzaad" or colza in french, used to make oil and to be used in food for animals, and, for making bio-diesel!!

Now, (I had to look this up) Canola oil is a variant of "koolzaadolie", which is a healthy oil and certainly not "raapzaadolie"!! Sadly enough, the english productname rapeseed is wrongly used... for both plants!!!

The name rapeseed is very incorrect to refer to canola oil, it should be colzaseed or something similar that point at koolzaad instead of raapzaad...

BTW, on the raapzaad and koolzaad plants; "raap" means turnip in dutch. "Kool" means cabbage. "Zaad" means seed.
 
#36 ·
The FDA guideline is under 2% so there is still some present. Canola oil is processed to remove bad stuff and that can add other bad stuff. I should have added that I use a lot of butter also for sautes, eggs, etc. I will stick to the oils that take less processing that can introduce other fatty chain molecules that can be bad for us.
 
#37 ·
I am familiar with the UK's rapeseed oil. I travel there at least once a year. Rapeseed and canola oil are two separate products and if you don't understand this, there is no point to carry on this conversation.
Peter has the truth of it; Canola and rapeseed are sufficiently different they no longer cross-pollinate. There was a lawsuit settled in favour of Monsanto when a Canadian farmer claimed his Roundup resistant rapeseed crop was contaminated by cross-pollination from a neighbour's Canola fields. He lost. The gene making the plant resistant to Monsanto's roundup (a powerful herbicide) was first identified and isolated by a Govt. of Saskatchewan Min. of Ag. scientist. There was a court battle over who owned the patent. Monsanto won. Because it's GM, it's banned in the EC.
 
#38 ·
 Olive oil for deep frying?!?!  Not to mention the price, but Olive oil has its own flavor too.  I use Corn oil for all my deep frying needs.  It cheap, and doesn't leave a strong taste of the oil.
 
#39 ·
Let me explain. There's koolzaadolie and raapzaadolie. Koolzaad and raapzaad are the dutch names of the plants and olie simply means oil. An important side-note to make this even more complicated; both oils are called in french huile de colza.

BTW, "koolzaad" (hence the sound of the french word Colza) is one of the 2 dutch words that have sneeked their way into french (the other is kermis if you want to know)!!
Well, that's interesting, Chris, i have heard of olio di colza here too! It was always presented as a kind of crappy oil, not for sale in supermarkets, and used in mixtures of cheap oil. If i'm not mistaken. Or, possibly i saw it in a very cheap olive oil called "olio di colza e di oliva" and i thought colza meant maybe some sort of crappy third or fourth pressing of olives.
 
#40 ·
Siduri,

None of my links go directly to peer reviewed sources however you can drill done in most of them, except for the producers websites, since they supply references. I gave a large number of independent producers so they could collaborate each other.

Wikipedia doesn't have conventional peer review but their multiple eyes plus citations method has proven as accurate a conventional review under multiple studies. In any case the article citations are a good source for doing your own research.

Mayo Clinic publications are obviously editor reviewed and being well read by peers in the field anything unorthodox would be quickly challenged.

The canola council website does reference a lot of peer reviewed material.

The snopes article is endorsed by Quackwatch. Quackwatch acts to peer review alternative medicine. See the wikipedia article for information about Quackwatch and why they are trustworthy.

http://www.quackwatch.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quackwatch

If you want peer reviewed information that is not from a scientific or medical source I am not sure what I can offer.
 
#41 ·
Chris,

Perhaps I should have said edible Rapeseed Oil.

I am not sure what you mean by two kinds of Canola or why you say Rapeseed is wrongly used for both plants. koolzaadolie and raapzaadolie are both cultivated varieties of Rapeseed. Canola is the variant that is low erucic acid, low glucosinolate. Of course there are many sub varieties of Canola and a few Canola like varieties that represent a small amount of production.
 
#42 ·
Peter has the truth of it; Canola and rapeseed are sufficiently different they no longer cross-pollinate. There was a lawsuit settled in favour of Monsanto when a Canadian farmer claimed his Roundup resistant rapeseed crop was contaminated by cross-pollination from a neighbour's Canola fields. He lost. The gene making the plant resistant to Monsanto's roundup (a powerful herbicide) was first identified and isolated by a Govt. of Saskatchewan Min. of Ag. scientist. There was a court battle over who owned the patent. Monsanto won. Because it's GM, it's banned in the EC.
I remember that case. Strange things a guy who grew in Saskatoon in the '80's will remember.......
 
#43 ·
Siduri,

None of my links go directly to peer reviewed sources however you can drill done in most of them, except for the producers websites, since they supply references. I gave a large number of independent producers so they could collaborate each other.

Wikipedia doesn't have conventional peer review but their multiple eyes plus citations method has proven as accurate a conventional review under multiple studies. In any case the article citations are a good source for doing your own research.

Mayo Clinic publications are obviously editor reviewed and being well read by peers in the field anything unorthodox would be quickly challenged.

The canola council website does reference a lot of peer reviewed material.

The snopes article is endorsed by Quackwatch. Quackwatch acts to peer review alternative medicine. See the wikipedia article for information about Quackwatch and why they are trustworthy.

http://www.quackwatch.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quackwatch

If you want peer reviewed information that is not from a scientific or medical source I am not sure what I can offer.
That quackwatch site is very interesting - you might be interested in Ben Goldacre's "Bad Science" articles (in The Guardian online and in his own website) for a very intelligent and also funny debunking of various "scientific facts" that are promoted even by people who should know better.

I wasn;t particularly interested in reading about Canola myself, because it's not anything i would have occasion to use, i was just raising the point. Non-scientific peer reviewed information - no i wasn't referring to that, i meant scientific sources.

But the main problem with anything is that even the best scientist can prove something is harmful but it's impossible to prove it's not. You would have to test every case for a lifetime and no one could do that. All we can say is that SO FAR something doesn;t seem dangerous. As I'm fond of saying, when i was a kid all the good kids shoe stores had an actual xray machine where you would stick your feet in and see the bones (i LOVED it) and they could tell if the shoes fit right. Everyone thought that xrays were perfectly safe. Like asbestos, like thalidomide, like tons of other stuff. Cold-pressed olive oil has been around since the ancient times, if it hurt you, we'd likely know about it by now. I'm just suspicious when something new comes out and suddenly it's the only way to go - all these recipes i come across specifying canola oil - like corn oil or safflower oil or sunflower oil wouldn;t do, like you couldn't just say "mild oil" or something (these are cake recipes by the way, not for frying), so i wonder why are they specifying?

.

I also wonder at the effects of the chemicals on industrially produced oils of all kinds. They mash the seeds, then have to wash out the unwanted particles, and i hear that's done chemically. One of the other reasons i used to fry only in extra virgin oil was that my kids were little and i wanted to make sure they got as least crap in them as possible, without going to any extremes. Now I'm old and the kids are elsewhere, and I'm less careful. Never have fried all that much anyway.
 
#44 ·
Using your anology , were you there when the olive oil was harvested and processed.?? We all have our likes and dislikes. When I was younger the fad was everyone should use peanut oil. Then the best one in the 80s was Brocolli was great for you, but then again brocolli caused cancer. ??????
 
#48 ·
Chefedb, there are extremely strict rules for what can be put in extra virgin olive oil - one ingredient - olives. 

Yes, someone might do something else and get away with it, but chances are the other oil producers would be just as interested in getting him caught because it would ruin the entire market.  I have bought inferior extra virgin (cheapo no-name brand) and it had a chemical smell when i heated it - never bought that brand again.   Italians are very very particular about what they put in their stomachs!

So while I wasn't there when it was pressed, I trust it more than other oils which legally CAN contain traces of other ingredients. 
 
#49 · (Edited)
Well, that's interesting, Chris, i have heard of olio di colza here too! It was always presented as a kind of crappy oil, not for sale in supermarkets, and used in mixtures of cheap oil. If i'm not mistaken. Or, possibly i saw it in a very cheap olive oil called "olio di colza e di oliva" and i thought colza meant maybe some sort of crappy third or fourth pressing of olives.
The "huile de colza, or olio di colza" (koolzaadolie) is seen as a very reliable food oil in my country and in France. It's been used more and more. Seems to be quite a healthy oil. It's sold by a number of brands and always mentions "huile de colza" or "koolzaadolie" in Belgium (my country is bi-lingual french/dutch).

Thing is, this colza-oil is called rapeseed oil in english!!! It had better be named colza-oil instead of rapeseed, which is another plant than the colza, used for industrial oils!

Colza is also the stuff that Canola is made off, at least, that's what I read, although they mentioned "a variety of colza" is used. It didn't mention genetically manipulated, which doesn't mean it's not manipulated. My guess is as good as any guess.
 
#50 ·
I'm a big fan of canola.  Just like I'm a fan of corn and/or vegetable blended oils (corn/soybean/canola).  Or even blended olive & canola (like my favorite celebrity chef Michael Symon usually uses for cooking).  The lower saturated fat content is desirable for me and therefore it's in my kitchen.

I saw it mentioned earlier in the thread that folks try to pick 2 or so oils to cover their bases and that's my strategy as well.  I use a blended oil for most cooking and EVOO for drizzling on finished dishes and salads or in the unique sauteeing case where I want big, bold olive flavor.
 
#51 ·
Interesting discussion.  Here's the point for me:  do I want to taste olive oil in what I'm cooking?  If yes, then I use it.  If no, then I use a more neutral oil.  I generally like olive oil, so will use a cheaper (not extra-virgin) oil for quick frying, etc.  I do, sometimes, if Santa's been good to me, have a more expensive EVOO around with a distinctive flavour that I use for 'finishing'.  I don't expose it to too much heat, and drizzle it over a finished dish simply because I like the flavour of it.  Other oils, especially, I'm led to believe, peanut oil, are more suited to deep-frying and other high-heat applications.  As several here have stated already, it simply depends on what you want to achieve with your oil.  Olive oil is great for salad dressings, but not all salad dressings; it depends on the salad.  Grapeseed oil is very neutral in flavour, so you can let other ingredients in your dressing shine through.  Again, it's what you want to achieve.  I love olives and olive oil, so I use it often.  It's up to you.  Remember also the great differences in olive oils in terms of flavour.  Try a Spanish extra virgin and a Tuscan extra virgin, and you'll certainly find some differences in them which will affect the flavour of your dish. 
 
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