Ingredient · Fat
Canola Oil
A neutral-tasting seed oil extracted from rapeseed bred for low erucic acid. Mostly monounsaturated fat with a high smoke point, and typically produced with solvent extraction followed by refining, bleaching, and deodorising.
also known as Rapeseed oil, LEAR oil
Canola is rapeseed bred in the 1970s to remove erucic acid, which the original plant contained at levels unsuitable for food. The name is a contraction of "Canadian oil, low acid". By composition it is a reasonable fat: mostly monounsaturated, with more omega-3 than most seed oils.
The classification here is about processing, not the plant. Commercial canola is typically extracted with hexane, then refined, bleached, and deodorised — a chain of high-heat steps that strips the antioxidants and can generate small amounts of trans fats. Cold-pressed canola exists and is a different product, but it is rarely what ends up in packaged food.
In practice canola is a signal ingredient: it is chosen because it is cheap, neutral-tasting, and stable, which usually means you are holding something built for shelf life rather than for the plate.
Why it’s classified this way
Classified Risky for the degree of refining involved and its role as a low-cost bulk fat in ultra-processed foods.