Advice on rapeseed and canola oils
I’ve received quite a few e-mails from HSI members responding to this past Tuesday’s e-Alert about canola oil (“The New Big Oil” 8/20/02). Here’s a response from a member named Cliff whose friend is trying to figure out an allergy problem:
“A friend of mine thought she had a peanut allergy, but after a lot of personal research, believes it to be rapeseed oil that seems to be indiscriminately substituted for other oils without any notation on the labels. She has no problem with peanuts when she eats them. But every so often, when eating other foods listing other oils in the contents, has severe swelling in the tongue and throat. She believes it to be the rapeseed oil because of the severe early reaction to a product listing it in the contents, with no other oil being listed. It is sometimes like Russian Roulette to eat foods that list several alternate oils as possibly substituted for peanut or other oils, even when rapeseed is not mentioned. By the way, is there any distinction between the use of the term ‘rapeseed oil’ and ‘Canola oil?'”
I agree, Cliff – it’s very annoying to check a label and read, “May contain one or more of the following” It makes you feel like you could be getting motor oil, elbow grease, almost anything. In any case, your friend obviously has a very serious allergy to something, so she would probably do well to seek the advice of a competent allergist or nutritionist.
To answer your question about the two oils, yes, there is an important distinction between rapeseed oil and canola oil. Rapeseed oil has a high concentration of erucic acid which is known to cause lesions of the heart. Canola oil is processed from rapeseed with the specific goal of creating an inexpensive oil that’s low in erucic acid. So while the evidence is mounting that you should avoid both, rapeseed oil appears to present a greater known danger. If you find a product that uses rapeseed oil, choose something else instead.
To Your Good Health,
Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute
