Thus begins the first post of the redirection of this site. I figured I would start it off on an important topic, the ever present danger of Canola Oil. Canola Oil is found in so many processed foods it has become a problem to find some without it. It is equally prolific in Organic and Health Oriented brands as well. So to start, lets take a look at what Canola Oil really is.
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. The Rapeseed is part of the mustard family of plants. According to AgriAlternatives, 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.”
Canola means “Canadian oil”. The plant is still a rape plant, albeit genetically modified version of one. The new name provides perfect cover for commercial interests wanting to make millions. Look at the ingredients list on labels. Apparently peanut oil is being replaced with rape oil. You’ll find it in an alarming number of processed foods. Rape oil was the source of the chemical warfare agent mustard gas, which was banned after blistering the lungs and skins of hundred of thousands of soldiers and civilians during W.W.I. Recent French reports indicate that it was again in use during the Gulf War.
Well that is encouraging, so lets look a little closer in how Canola came to be the preferred cooking and processing oil in North America. Canada is mainly responsible for it being marketed in the USA. The Canadian government and industry paid our Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) $50 million dollars to have canola oil placed on the (GRAS) List, “Generally Recognized As Safe”. Thus a new industry was created. Laws were enacted affecting international trade, commerce, and traditional diets. 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 When canola oil was withdrawn from their diets, the deposits dissolved but scar tissue remained on all vital organs.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 USA. Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is a rare fatal degenerative disease caused by a build up 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).
Rapeseed oil is indeed proven to be poisonous to living things and is an excellent insect repellent. Ask for it at your local nursery. Rape is an oil that is isused as a lubricant, fuel, soap and synthetic rubber base and as an illuminate for color pages in magazines. It is an 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, when it was thrown out. Remember the “Mad Cow disease” scare, when millions of cattle in the UK were slaughtered in case of infecting humans? Cattle were being fed on a mixture containing material from dead sheep, and sheep suffer from a disease called “scrapie”. It was thought this was how “Mad Cow” began and started 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” since rape oil was removed from the feed. Perhaps not scientifically proven, but interesting all the same. US and Canadian farmers grow genetically engineered rapeseed and manufacturers use its oil (canola) in thousands of processed foods, with the blessings of Canadian and US government watchdog agencies. The canola supporting websites say that canola is safe to use.They admit it was developed from the rapeseed, but insist that through genetic engineering it is no longer rapeseed, but “canola” instead. Actually Hydrogenated Rapeseed oil is also listed as safe for human consumption.
There is much debate, even among the experts on this topic, but history has shown us to be wary. Throughout the last century, foods, additives, and even medicines have been put forth to the public and declared safe only to have that position reversed decades later. Of course at that point the damage is done. The interesting point is that though this happens over and over, the populous still believes whatever they are fed. Most do not even look up the “research” that touts a substance as safe. They believe so whole heartedly that the “experts” really have their best interests in mind. Yet we know and even acknowledge the incessant lobbying of our government by big business and never suspect that products may being pushed through in the interest of economy, business and even in some cases hazardous waste that needs to be disposed of, disguised as an essential product (flouride, but that will be another post).
But decide for yourself. Informed of both sides of the debate is a far better place to be in as a human than blindly following the leaders who have burnt us many times before!
Another great easy recipe for a light lunch or as a side for a pleasant dinner on a hot summer day!
