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A tangent on Canola and rapeseed oil: I have recently watched a Chinese Cooking Demystified video (I believe it was [1]) about the Chinese rapeseed oil and its
by NotOscarWilde 6y ago
A tangent on Canola and rapeseed oil:
I have recently watched a Chinese Cooking
Demystified video (I believe it was [1]) about the Chinese rapeseed oil and its
comparison in taste and erucic acid contents to Canola oil, which is its only
available variant in Western countries.
The video stated a thesis echoed on Wikipedia's page on Erucic acid [2]:
> Studies done on laboratory animals in the early 1970s show that
erucic acid appears to have toxic effects on the heart at high enough
doses. However, more recent research has cast doubt on the relevance of
rat studies to the human health of erucic acid. Rats are unusual in
their inability to process erucic acid, and the symptoms in rats caused
by a diet with high levels of erucic acid has not been observed in
pigs, primates, or any other animals.
From what I understand, all the references in the Oatly article focus on Canola
oil, which is supposed to be low on erucic acid. However, the few (~3)
research sources in the Oatly article that I clicked on all do rat/mouse studies.
Isn't that kind of strange, considering the erucic acid rat research controversy?
The Wikipedia page on Canola oil [3] does not mention the health risks aside
from the erucic acid controversy. Still, since Canola oil is such an important product,
I can imagine any negative studies or claims could be contested. (Disclaimer: I
have not checked the edit history of that page myself.)
To sum up, I currently have no idea if Canola oil or rapeseed oils in general are
risky, healthy in reasonable doses, or something else completely. If anyone with
any expertise comes around, please educate me.
[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDP9t65PVsY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDP9t65PVsY
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erucic_acid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erucic_acid
[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canola_oil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canola_oil
- fancyfredbot 6y agoThis comment is the long form equivalent of the excellent https://mobile.twitter.com/justsaysinmice https://mobile.twitter.com/justsaysinmice (and just as great, thanks)
- SiempreViernes 6y agoGood shout on the studies maybe not being obviously relevant. I checked them, and the score is: Rat, Rat, actually about cooking in canola oil, any vegetable oil versus less olive oil, Rat, actually about a different oil with quite different content of the active acid being trialled, Rat, Rat. After this review, it is clear to me they cheated with what could have been the most quantitative part of the argument: a bad sign indeed. And yeah, turns out this is written by SEO marketer.
- maxerickson 6y agoWhat health risks do you imagine might exist? We can break down the composition of it very precisely and have lots of information about each molecule present in it. It's not some big mystery. And it's not invalidating for a safety study to be rat based if the rats are more sensitive to the molecule than humans...
- Nursie 6y agoBut it may invalidate it if rats are unique among mammals in suffering any harm at all.
- maxerickson 6y agoThat doesn't really invalidate a 'safe' result. (it's not a particularly useful result at that point, I agree)
- atombender 6y agoThere's also mustard oil, which is banned for human consumption in the US due to fears about erucic acid. Mustard oil is one of the most common cooking oils in India and Pakistan. As a result, all mustard oil in the US is labeled "for external use only". People still use it for cooking.
- messe 6y ago> There's also mustard oil, which is banned for human consumption in the US due to fears about erucic acid. Fun snippet from the wikipedia page on Mustard Oil: "Rats are unusual in their inability to process erucic acid, and the symptoms in rats caused by a diet with high levels of erucic acid has not been observed in pigs, primates, or any other animals" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustard_oil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustard_oil
- GordonS 6y ago> As a result, all mustard oil in the US is labeled "for external use only" Huh, same in the UK too - I wondered why on earth it would say that on a bottle of mustard oil, now I know!
- cproctor 6y agoWhoa! I wrote the text you quoted from Wikipedia [1]. I learned about mustard oil [2] from a couple of Indian recipes and was surprised that it's one of the primary oils used in India while being banned for human consumption in the US (leading to the development of canola oil). Trying to resolve this dissonance led to an evening of research which I then contributed to wikipedia. It's neat to see the research loop closed, actually having an impact when other people read the stuff. I'm reminded of when I checked a dissertation out of the university library once; it had only been checked out once before. The librarian at the checkout counter looked up at me with a grin and said, "I wrote that!" [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Erucic_acid&diff=943620513&oldid=942017150 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Erucic_acid&diff=... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mustard_oil&diff=prev&oldid=943620214 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mustard_oil&diff=...