| Blog - Entry for Piotr |
2009/07/19
Canola healthy for pets?
One of my best customers just brought in an article, apparently from Whole Dog Journal, regarding the toxicity of canola oil, and in particular erucic acid. This article does not carry citations so I could not surmise where it received its facts.
All indications in current scientific research are that the state of canola oil as it exists today poses little risk to any animal, save those with a very rare genetic defect. It is not an inexpensive food product, rather it has taken an enormous amount of effort to cultivate the current crops, and the human grade products are quite high quality. It is well known for being low in unhealthy saturated fats and very high in healthy omega fatty acids.
All canola oil contains traces of erucic acid but how much? I found this great piece at the Mayo Clinic's site:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/canola-oil/AN01281
I read an article on the Internet that said canola oil contains toxins that are harmful to humans. Is this true?
Answer
from Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
Health concerns about canola oil that are being circulated on the Internet are unfounded.
Misinformation about the safety of canola oil may stem from the fact that, years ago, oil was produced from the rapeseed plant. Rapeseed oil contains very high levels — 30 percent to 60 percent — of erucic acid, a compound that in large amounts can be toxic to humans. The canola plant was developed by natural cross-breeding from the rapeseed plant in the early 1970s. Canola oil is produced from canola plants, not rapeseed plants.
Canola plants have very low levels of erucic acid. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), canola oil contains erucic acid levels in the range of 0.3 percent to 1.2 percent. This is well below the 2 percent limit set by the FDA.
Canola oil is very low in saturated fat and has a very high proportion of monounsaturated fat. So, it's a healthy and safe choice when it comes to oils.
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In my humble opinion there is not much reason to be concerned regarding dogs consuming modern, human-grade canola products. I will continue to research the problem to discover what if any toxicity link there is between erucic acid and dogs and cats!
All indications in current scientific research are that the state of canola oil as it exists today poses little risk to any animal, save those with a very rare genetic defect. It is not an inexpensive food product, rather it has taken an enormous amount of effort to cultivate the current crops, and the human grade products are quite high quality. It is well known for being low in unhealthy saturated fats and very high in healthy omega fatty acids.
All canola oil contains traces of erucic acid but how much? I found this great piece at the Mayo Clinic's site:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/canola-oil/AN01281
I read an article on the Internet that said canola oil contains toxins that are harmful to humans. Is this true?
Answer
from Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
Health concerns about canola oil that are being circulated on the Internet are unfounded.
Misinformation about the safety of canola oil may stem from the fact that, years ago, oil was produced from the rapeseed plant. Rapeseed oil contains very high levels — 30 percent to 60 percent — of erucic acid, a compound that in large amounts can be toxic to humans. The canola plant was developed by natural cross-breeding from the rapeseed plant in the early 1970s. Canola oil is produced from canola plants, not rapeseed plants.
Canola plants have very low levels of erucic acid. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), canola oil contains erucic acid levels in the range of 0.3 percent to 1.2 percent. This is well below the 2 percent limit set by the FDA.
Canola oil is very low in saturated fat and has a very high proportion of monounsaturated fat. So, it's a healthy and safe choice when it comes to oils.
-------------------
In my humble opinion there is not much reason to be concerned regarding dogs consuming modern, human-grade canola products. I will continue to research the problem to discover what if any toxicity link there is between erucic acid and dogs and cats!
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