Even though the word usually brings negative feeling and thoughts, in the past, during the Second World War, people didn’t associate rapeseed with anything unusual or bad. Back then, the oil that came from these seeds had industrial use.
What makes this name problematic is the fact that the oil was highly toxic which forced FDA to introduce a ban for human use in 1956. In the 1970s, Canadian growers managed to create a brand new variety of this crop which didn’t contain so much erucic acid which made it toxic.
This is the reason why they have decided to come up with another name for this crop. That’s how Canola was born.
Canola actually means “Canadian Oil, Low Acid”. Obviously, the growers wanted to inform consumers that the oil is completely safe for consumption.
Canola became a registered trademark, but since it reached record high popularity instantly, the term became generic around the world. Today, canola oil is used as a name for any rapeseed oil with low erucic acid presence.
Canola oil is known as a very efficient insecticide and this is the reason why it’s found in a wide range of so-called organic pesticide control commercial products. It is sprayed directly on veggies to eliminate insects.
How are canola oil and other vegetable oils processed?
According to the latest statistics, canola is the third most used crop in Canada right after barley and wheat. If we take this fact into consideration, we will understand why the manufacturing process is so quick and producing oil is affordable and easy.
– Oil seeds like cotton, soybean, sunflower and rapeseed are harvested. The majority of these seeds come from plants that are genetically modified to withstand almost limitless amounts of pesticides used on them. So, technically speaking, canola oil is just a genetically altered version of the old rapeseed oil.
In other words, the natural variety of rapeseed is quite toxic, so producers have created a new type of oil that is affordable, simple to grow and almost the same as rapeseed oil. This is how canola was created.
– The pulp of the seed and the oil are placed in a hexane solvent bath and steamed carefully to get even more oil. It’s good to know that hexane is made with the help of crude petroleum oil refining. This is a well-known mild anesthetic.
Breathing high levels of this compound can lead to mild euphoria. After that, individuals feel sleepiness and headaches as well as nausea. Needless to say, this compound is bad for nature because it supports greenhouse effects.
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