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{{two other uses||the figure in Celtic mythology|Canola (Celtic mythology)|the Maemo multimedia application|Canola (software)}}
In [[agriculture]], '''canola''' is a trademarked quality description of a group of [[cultivars]] of [[rapeseed]] variants from which low [[erucic acid]] [[rapeseed oil]] and low glucosinolate meal are obtained.  Also known as "LEAR" oil (for '''Low Erucic Acid Rapeseed'''), Canola was initially bred in [[Canada]] by [[Keith Downey]] and [[Baldur Stefansson]] in the [[1970s]]{{Fact|date=February 2007}}.

The word "canola" is derived from "'''Can'''adian '''o'''il, '''l'''ow '''a'''cid" in 1978 . [http://www.vvdailypress.com/2005/112013644022135.html] [http://www.biotechnologyonline.gov.au/foodag/weeds.cfm] [http://www.foodproductdesign.com/archive/1998/0398PR.html]

==History==
[[Image:Canola field temora nsw.jpg|thumb|200px|Canola field in [[Temora, New South Wales]]]]
[[Image:canola bindi aus.jpg|thumb|200px|Canola field near Bindi Bindi [[Western Australia]]]]
[[Image:Field 150.jpg|thumb|200px|Canola field near [[Red Deer, Alberta]]]]
[[Image:CanolaOil bottle.jpg|thumb|right|140px|Bottle of Canola Oil from Canada]]

Once considered a specialty [[crop]] in [[Canada]], canola has evolved into a major [[North America]]n cash crop.  [[Canada]] and the [[United States]] produce between 7 and 10 million [[metric ton]]s (tonnes) of canola seed per year.  Annual [[Canadian]] [[exports]] total 3 to 4 million metric tons of the seed, 700,000 metric tons of canola oil and 1 million metric tons of canola meal.  The United States is a net consumer of canola oil.  The major customers of canola seed are [[Japan]], [[Mexico]], [[China]] and [[Pakistan]], while the bulk of  canola oil and meal goes to the United States, with smaller amounts shipped to [[Taiwan]], [[Mexico]], [[China]], and [[Europe]].
World production of rapeseed oil in the 2002–2003 season was about 14 million metric tons.  <ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.usda.gov/nass/pubs/agr05/05_ch3.PDF|author=USDA|title=Agricultural Statistics 2005}}</ref>

Canola was developed through conventional plant breeding from [[rapeseed]], an oilseed plant with roots in ancient civilization.  The word "rape" in [[rapeseed]] comes from the Latin word "''rapum''," meaning turnip.  [[Turnip]], [[rutabaga]], [[cabbage]], [[Brussels sprouts]], [[mustard plant|mustard]] and many other vegetables are related to the two canola species commonly grown: ''[[Brassica napus]]'' and ''[[Brassica rapa]]''.  The negative associations with the word "[[rape]]" in North America resulted in the more marketing-friendly name "Canola", but also to distinguish it from regular rapeseed oil, which has much higher [[erucic acid]] content.

Hundreds of years ago, Asians and Europeans used rapeseed oil in lamps.  As time progressed, people employed it as a [[cooking]] oil and added it to foods.  Its use was limited until the development of [[steam power]], when machinists found rapeseed oil clung to water- and steam-washed [[metal]] surfaces better than other lubricants.  [[World War II]] saw high demand for the oil as a lubricant for the rapidly increasing number of steam engines in naval and merchant ships.  When the war blocked European and Asian sources of rapeseed oil, a critical shortage developed and Canada began to expand its limited rapeseed production.

After the war, demand declined sharply and farmers began to look for other uses for the plant and its products.  Edible rapeseed oil extracts were first put on the market in 1956–1957, but these suffered from several unacceptable characteristics.  Rapeseed oil had a distinctive taste and a disagreeable greenish colour due to the presence of [[chlorophyll]].  It also contained a high concentration of [[erucic acid]].  Experiments on animals have pointed to the possibility that erucic acid, consumed in large quantities, may cause heart damage, though Indian researchers have published findings that contradict these conclusions.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}  Feed meal from the rapeseed plant was not particularly appealing to livestock, due to high levels of sharp-tasting compounds called [[glucosinolate]]s.

Rapeseed had been grown in Canada (mainly [[Saskatchewan]]) since 1936 . Canadian plant breeders took up the challenge to improve the quality of the plant.  In [[1968]], Dr. [[Baldur Stefansson]] of the [[University of Manitoba]] used [[selective breeding]] to develop a low erucic acid variety of rapeseed.  In 1974 another variety was produced with both a low [[erucic acid]] content and a low level of [[glucosinolate]]s; this was dubbed Canola, from '''Can'''adian '''O'''il '''L'''ow '''A'''cid.

A variety developed in 1998 is considered to be the most disease- and drought-resistant variety of Canola to date.  Recent varieties such as this have been produced by [[gene splicing]] techniques.

Canola could emerge as a crop in Central Oregon. An Oregon State University researcher has determined that growing winter canola for hybrid seed now appears possible. Canola is the highest producing oil-seed crop, but the state prohibits it from being grown in Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook counties because it may attract bees away from specialty seed crops such as carrots which require bees for pollination.

==Health effects==
  
Canola oil has been touted as a healthy oil due to its low [[saturated fat]] and high [[monounsaturated]] oil content—the latter almost 60%—and beneficial [[omega-3]] [[fatty acid]]s profile. The [[Canola Council of Canada]] states it is completely safe and is the healthiest of all commonly used cooking oils.[http://www.canola-council.org/cooking_myths.html] Traditional rapeseed oil contains higher amounts of [[erucic acid]] and [[glucosinolate]]s, both of which were deemed undesirable for human consumption by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Erucic acid is implicated with [[cancer]] and [[rancidity]] and [[glucosinolate]]s are [[goitrogenic]].{{Fact|date=May 2007}} Canola oil reduces them to very low levels—0.5 to 1% for [[erucic acid]]—which is below the 2 percent limit set by the USDA.  [http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/canola-oil/AN01281]

For many years, rapeseed oil was used for human consumption in Canada.  Although the undesirable effects of glucosinolates and erucic acid were known, they were deemed an acceptable risk versus the many health benefits of rapeseed oil.  Nonetheless, researchers attempted and were able to develop fully "double-zero" varieties by the 1980s without significant levels of those two compounds.

Nonetheless, the oil generated controversy.  In March 1996 John Thomas published an article, "Blindness, Mad Cow Disease and Canola Oil", in ''Perceptions'' magazine, implicating Canola oil with [[glaucoma]] and the [[Mad Cow Disease]]. [http://whale.to/m/canola.html] This article was taken up, condensed and widely circulated in a story via [[email]]s. The industry and many health professionals condemn this as an [[email hoax]] and condemn its claims as being wholly unsubstantiated.{{Fact|date=August 2007}}

In [[Nexus Magazine]], Volume 9, Number 5 (Aug–Sept 2002), contrarian[http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/features/cocgood.html] dietitians Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, published an article, called "The Great Con-ola", questioning the industry's marketing claims, stating that Canola oil 'has a number of undesirable health effects when used as the main source of dietary fats'.  Their article cites independent studies done from the late 1970s to 1990s, which show animals fed on a pure Canola oil-based diet suffer from [[vitamin E deficiency]], a decrease in blood [[platelet]] count, an increase in platelet size, and shortened [[life-span]]s.  

The authors state "Furthermore, it seems to retard growth, which is why the FDA does not allow the use of canola oil in infant formula" with terse citation to ''Federal Register 1985''.  However, an article from The Journal of Nutrition explains this same citation differently: "The use of canola oil in infant formulas is not permitted because infants fed formula might consume higher amounts of 22:1(n-9) than would be provided in usual mixed diets and because of the lack of data about infants fed diets containing canola oil."[http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/129/7/1261]. The "22:1(n-9)" mentioned by the FDA here is another name for euric acid. So although levels below the 2 percent limit set by the USDA in Canola are permitted in the diet of adults the FDA does not permit these amounts in an infants diet.

The authors state that omega-3s in canola oil are transformed into [[trans fat]]s during the [[deodorisation]] process, citing a single [[University of Florida]] study published in 1994 which found [[trans fat]] content to be as high as 4.6% in a sample of soy and canola oils purchased in the U.S. [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-4522.1994.tb00244.x?journalCode=jfl]   
<!-- even the abstract makes it clear that it wasn't '''most''' omega-3s, but 37% in the worst case -->

==Other facts==

{{Unreferencedsection|date=June 2007}}

* Today about 75% of the Canola crops planted in [[Alberta]], [[Manitoba]], and Saskatchewan are GM ([[genetically modified food]]) herbicide-tolerant varieties.

* In 2004, [[North Dakota]] produced 91% of the Canola in the [[United States]].[http://www.nass.usda.gov/nd/marrank.txt]

* "Canola oil (19 grams – about 1 ½ tablespoons per day) may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to its unsaturated fat content, according to supportive but not conclusive research.  Canola oil should replace a similar amount of saturated fat in the diet without increasing calories." [http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/qhccanol.html]

* The rapeseed blossom is a [[Northern Nectar Sources for Honeybees|major source of nectar]] for [[honeybee]]s.

* Canola oil is a promising source for manufacturing [[biodiesel]], a renewable alternative to [[fossil fuel]]s.
* The main price-discovery mechanism for worldwide canola trade is the [[Winnipeg Commodity Exchange]] canola futures contract.  Rapeseed is traded on the [[Euronext]] exchange.

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/gmf-agm/appro/low_erucic-faible_erucique_e.html Low Erucic Acid Rapeseed (Lear) Oil Derived From Canola]
*[http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/crops/a1171w.htm Swathing and Harvesting Canola]
*[http://www.canola-council.org/biodiesel/ The Canola Council of Canada]
*[http://www.canolainfo.org/ CanolaInfo.org]
*[http://www.northerncanola.com/ Northern Canola]
*[http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/crops/a686w.htm Canola Production]
*[http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/foods/fn620-1.gif North Dakota State University ] picture comparing canola oil fatty acid content with other oils.
*[http://www.uscanola.com/ The U.S. Canola Association's (USCA's)]

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[[Category:Brassica]]
[[Category:Vegetable oils]]