Canola oil: Is it harmful to your health?

Negative reports circulating on the Internet about canola oil are unfounded. This misinformation may stem from the fact that, years ago, oil was produced from the rapeseed plant. Rapeseed oil is high in erucic acid, a compound that does have adverse health effects. For this reason, plant breeders developed a new plant that is similar to the rapeseed plant but which contains very low levels of erucic acid. To distinguish it from rapeseed oil, the new oil was called "canola" oil. Currently, canola oil contains 0.5 percent to 1 percent erucic acid — which is well below the 2 percent limit set by the Food and Drug Administration.

Canola oil is very low in saturated fat and has a very high proportion of monounsaturated fat. So, it is a healthy choice when it comes to oils.