I've just come across some really negative information about canola oil. I've been using it for the past ten years after it was purported to be "the better oil". I'm just wondering if anyone has researched canola oil and found this same negative info. When I use oil, it is usually just for a little stir-frying, except when I deep-fry french fries. This is where we would consume the majority of canola oil. Recently, I bought my first bottle of olive oil. It's okay, but you must have to get used to the taste--different, and somewhat strong, I think. Also, I tried to deep-fry FF in olive oil and found that the oil began to smoke before the time was up for heating the fryer as per the fryer instructions. So I started the FF early. They did ok, but were greasier than those fried in canola or any other vegetable oil. Does olive oil heat faster than vegetable oils? Anyway, I'm just searching for some information on these two and how to use them in my cooking, and which is the healthier. Thanks in advance for your comments!

-- Janie (godsfarmgirl@yahoo.com), January 05, 2001

Answers

From what I've read on the subject, canola oil is made from cottonseeds...do you know if that is correct? Either way, whatever it is made from, it is sprayed with some insecticides that are really poisonous and dangerous...but not on a small scale..However, after 10 years....yikes!

Olive oil is VERY healthy...

Deep fat frying is NOT healthy! (this is from someone who LOVES french fries!0

So....ergo....if the olive oil is smokin' it can't be good for you..what you're fryin'!

and since I am a deep fat frying lover...I have had to learn to not do it for my health's sake. for frrench fries...I cut them up (or just use the skinny ones from the store) and put them on aluminum foil sheet. Spray with Pam or suchlike...sprinkle salt (I like seasoned salt) or whatever kind of seasonings you like and BAKE for 20 minutes in a 350 oven.

Taste like you fried them in a ton of grease!!!

Idaho Cher

-- Cher Rovang (fullcircle@nidlink.com), January 05, 2001.

Canola Oil is made from canola seed, grown mostly in the north. Some is grown around me.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 05, 2001.

Oh, I am wondering about the insecticide thing. I never saw my neighbor use them. It needs to flower and be pollinated to produce the seed I think. No bees, no seed???

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 05, 2001.

My mistake!

I finally remembered...hey, I'm old...you gotta forgive that...

anyway...my info was on Cottonseed oil, not canola.

well, either way, deep fat frying is bad for your health...but man oh man...it tastes sooo good!

-- Cher Rovang (fullcircle@nidlink.com), January 05, 2001.

Scientific studies have now indicated that consuming olive oil in moderate quantities will lower cholestrol even if you continue your previous fat intake. Every other oil still contributes to the excess cholestrol that Americans are famous for. The chemistry of various oils is a mystery to me, I have heard that peanut oil smokes less when hot. If you think that olive oil smoked at alower temperature, it probably did. If you really care about healthy, you will not deep fat fry, though. The taste of olive oil will vary considerably from one producer to another. I can't tell if it is olive oil but then my food co-op sells a pretty good oil at a reasonable price.

-- kirby johnson (kirbyj@deskmedia.com), January 05, 2001.

Yeah Cher - I never met a deep fried onion ring that I didn't like!!!!

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 05, 2001.

You don't want to know how vegetable oil, like corn, is manufactured. Trust me, I have seen it done. Fry thick potato slices in a little olive oil - nirvana. The darker the olive oil the stronger the taste. Light olive oil, called extra virgin, is very mild tasting.

-- JLS in NW AZ (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), January 05, 2001.

I do the oven-baked french fries, too, but instead of spraying them with Pam, I toss them in a little bit of oil first (and now I use olive oil). Olive oil is different, you have to get used to it. You can use melted butter or lard for some things in place of it -- much, much healthier than margarine.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), January 05, 2001.

Canola oil is made from rapeseed. Rape is a leafy green plant. Seeds are available from Le Jardin du Gourmet for $.35 for a sample size packet. Easy to understand why they don't call it rape oil, but where the word 'canola' came from, I don't know.

-- Sandy in MN (jpevans_56353@yahoo.com), January 05, 2001.

Seems like one day 'the experts' are telling us something is good for us and then a couple of months later....ooops it's actually not good for you. I've about gotten to the point where my rule of thumb is the less processing and spraying the better. Heck I'm beginning to think lard is a good alternative. I definately think butter is better for you than margarine. Seems like when we started over processing and spraying our foods a whole lot more cases of cancer showed up.

-- Amanda in Mo (aseley@townsqr.com), January 05, 2001.

I agree with Amanda that overprocessing and adding chemicals to our food is the worst thing for our health. I use safflower oil and try to by organic, expeller processed. We also use olive oil but there are some things it just doesn't taste right in such as baking. That's when I use the safflower oil. I too loved fried foods but I know they are not healthy so we rarely eat them. I bake the potatoes like someone above mentioned instead of french frying them. Not quite as good but I know it's better for me and once your system gets used to having less fats, you cannot tolerate the fried stuff. I also use butter versus margarine. I think anything that is chemically processed is harmful to our health. Margarine is chemically processed. We use butter in small amounts. And I will tell you, it makes good pie crusts and biscuits!

-- bwilliams (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), January 05, 2001.

Canola is, as Sandy said, the oil from a special oil seed strain of rape. Some of you with hog forage familiarity may have it ring a bell but that is a slightly different strain. Marketing execs knew that "rape oil" wouldnt sell too well so it was called Can- (from Canada who was the largest producer) ol- (Greek(?) for oil) a (a groovy sound that test groups liked stuck to the end of the word). It is related closely to mustard and other brassicas. The plants used for Canola are often GMO's (genetically modified organisms) that are now suspect of crossing with brassica related wild weeds and creating super herbicide resistant weeds. I have read about various adverse health effects, like easily bruising and problems healing, claimed to be associated with the oil but did not follow up on the claims validity. I just avoid canola due to my personal policy of avoiding GMO when possible and a preference for olive oil. BTW, the comment about lighter olive oil is true, the lighter the better tasting it gets until it gets "too light" for me and the flavor disappears. Ive never "smoked" olive oil but maybe thats because I really dont deep fry so I cant help there...

-- William in WI (thetoebes@webtv.net), January 05, 2001.

I heard somewhere that olive oil causes the gall bladder to spasm, helping prevent gall stones. Anybody know if there's any truth to this?

-- Eric in TN (eric_m_stone@yahoo.com), January 05, 2001.

I've sworn off of cottonseed oil (pesticide residues), corn oil (indications of cancer in animals), canola (myriad problems, if I can find the article again, I'll post it), and coconut (triglyceride problem). Only ones I'll use now are virgin olive oil (preferably Grecian, Italian second best, skeptical of Spanish...pesticides again) and Flax Seed or Hemp (beneficial components to all three). From what I understand, heating any oil to the deep-fry point negates many of the possible benefits, rebonds them differently or something. Perhaps Earthmama will weigh in on this question...

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), January 05, 2001.

Ya'll talking about how health conscience you are is making me feel a teensy bit guilty. I once jokingly told hubby while we were dating...if you can't fry it I can't cook it. Guess it is the southern back ground. I love fried stuff. Fried okra and southern fried steak with gravy...yum! My arteries may be clogged but they are happy :o).

-- Amanda in Mo (aseley@townsqr.com), January 05, 2001.

Peanut oil is the best for deep frying. It is expensive, but I reuse it. Anytime deep frying oil is not hot enough, the food will be greasier. I like the flavor of olive oil, but it took awhile to where I preferred it. Now I use more of than butter. If you buy it in the 3 litre size cans, it's a lot cheaper than buying it by the bottle. I have heard that most of the other oils are extracted by the use of solvents, extra virgin olive oil is not, some of the cheaper olive oils are. Extra virgin is always cold pressed.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), January 05, 2001.

I don't care for Canola oil it does not agree with my digestive system. Corn & Vegtable oil are OK tasteing. Extra-Virgin Olive oil is good for stir fry. Peanut oil is good for Deep Frying. BUT if you want the BEST flavor nothing beats good old fashion LARD! I once Deep Fried sevral Turkeys in Lard and they were so flavorful. The hell with the arteries I want good flavor. Fried Chicken, French Fries are so much better cooked in Lard. I eat enough healthy stuff, besides I never feed my hogs pesticides.

-- Mark in NC Fla (deadgoatman@webtv.net), January 05, 2001.

Canola is extracted from pressed rape seeds (from mustard family). When I lived in England, rape was a major crop for production of canola oil. The fields were golden yellow. Olive oil is far superior to Canola and much healthier. Olive oil is a food and a medicine. It does have that aroma that stands out, but I got used to it and use olive oil for everything. If you go for olive, only used cold pressed, extra virgin (1st pressing).

-- amy (acook@in4web.com), January 05, 2001.

I, too, switched to canola oil from corn or vegetable oil & shortrening several years ago. I do use olive oil, but it is not good for everything (especially frying or because of the flavor in some recipes). I just read that canola oil is considered poisonous to humans and caused cancer is some studies. My husband pays no attention to the news reports, because he says they always reverse themselves in a few year! I try to keep up with health/diet news, but I'm beginning to think he may be right. (Nearly)all things in moderation should be our motto I guess.

-- connie in NM (karrelandconnie@juno.com), January 05, 2001.

As you have noticed, the smoking point of olive oil is much lower than peanut or vegetable oil. It is not reccommended to use olive oil for deepfrying - peanut oil is one of the better choices. It has a much higher smoking point than most other oils. However, olive oil is wonderful for sauteeing and the x-tra virgin olive oil is terrific for salads and dipping.

-- Judi (ddecaro@snet.net), January 05, 2001.

Ooooh, I've got this wonderful receipe for potatoes. Keep on the skin, slice into thin wedges. In a deep cookie sheet, put a thin layer of olive oil and Italian herb mix (it has parsley, oregno, bay, etc) and coat the potatoes with mixture. Lay wedges flat then sprinkle parmasan cheese over and bake. Usually 400 for 30 minutes, turn once. (I have the wedges all go the same direction so I know if I turned them or not) I like mine a little crispy so cooking times can vary. It is so good, even the Italian family loves it. I will also wedge sweet potatoes and cook in olive oil the same way and it is also tasty (no herbs on the sweet)

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), January 05, 2001.

I think I know the info you must have seen on canola...it's been a few years, but it was enough to make me never buy the stuff and try to avoid it.It's in pretty much everything that's pre packaged, so it isn't the easiest thing to avoid either. I use olive oil for pretty much everything, but I don't deep fry, so I can't help you out with that. I use sesame oil for baking bread, it really is complimentary to quite a variety of grains.

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@excite.com), January 05, 2001.

I lived on the south coast of Puerto Rico for about a year back in the late sixties and olive oil was widely used. It was treated as a condiment and generally present on the table. They put olive oil on bread in place of butter, used it on mashed potatoes in place of gravy, as a "dip" for raw veggies and the biggie as topping for boiled rice. You do get used to the taste and I have come to prefer it over other oils. A big plus for me is that it does not require any refrigeration to keep fresh.

-- JLS in NW AZ (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), January 05, 2001.

Canola oil is okay if it is organic. It comes from rapeseed which got its name from the fact that it rapes the earth of everything in it. In an organic farm that would be fine, but the earth of an inorganic farm would have pesticides and who knows what that will end up in the oil.

Olive oil is by far the best though for cooking. It is an Omega 9 fat, which is a good fat. Canola and all the other main cooking oils are omega 6. Americans get WAY too much omega 6. We should have an equal balance of omega 3 fats to omega 6 fats. Omega 3 is primarily in flax and fish. They don't know how omega 9 (which is olive oil's primary essential fatty acid)should fit into the ratio, but it is certainly better than eating more omega 6.

-- andrea smith (a-smith@mindspring.com), January 05, 2001.

I use Canola oil for some things. Ibuy it thru the Ozark Co-op warehouse, the brand is Spectrum, it is organically grown and expeller pressed so it is not obtained thru high heat and the use of solvents. I also use only Greek extra virgin olive oil as I think it has the best flavor and I've tried olive oil from several different countries...Lebanese is the worst! Sorry, don't mean to hurt anyones feelings. Sesame oil is great,too. But there again get semi- refined. It's the refining that is bad for you and the hydrogenation.You can use Sesame oil for frying, I think. Sometimes when I stirfry my wok gets pretty hot and I only use sesame oil for that. I guess if you raise pigs and render your own lard that would be ok for you but lard bought in the store is hydrogenated. Butter works great for the things you use lard or shortening for. I recently bought some organic shortening, non-hydrogenated 100% palm oil, NOT palm kernal oil, and I tried baking a pie with it and my crust did not turn out like it does when I use butter. The instructions say use just like any shortening but that didn't work. Has anyone out there tried that and what did you do differently if anything. Another thing to think about if you have to buy butter is that hormones and pesticides are stored in the fat along with residues of antibiotics so commercial butter is probably not very good for you. Artie Ann

-- Artie Ann Karns (rokarns@arkansas.net), January 10, 2001.

I have read that olive oil from Italy is USUALLY organically grown, even if it doesn't say so on the label. And that olive oil from Spain is usually NOT organic, even if it DOES say it is on the label. It was from what I considered a fairly reliable source, but I can't prove it. Cold pressed oils are available in almost all "varieties" of oil, but you do pay more for them, and probably have to go to a health food store to find them!

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), January 10, 2001.