NUTRITIONAL SCIENCE

Is Canola a Danger to Health?

A short and scientific clarification

Photo by Ethan Kent on Unsplash

#1 Are canola and rapeseed identical? Why is it necessary that it’s genetically modified?

No, they’re not identical. High concentrations of erucic acid (EA) can be found in original rape lines (therefore called HEAR — high erucic acid rapeseed). When negative health effects of this fatty acid became known, scientists started developing plants with lower concentrations of EA. Since the 1950s this has been achieved by cultivation. Integrating a certain feature into a plant line through cultivation takes time, therefore the process is nowadays facilitated by genetic modification.

The line produced was called canola and is now almost exclusively cultivated in the U.S. and Canada. The EA content has been reduced from approximately 50% to under 0.5% and is now unproblematic for humans to consume.

#2 What is erucic acid and how can it affect your health?

Erucic acid is an unsaturated omega-9 fatty acid. Its metabolism works like for other fatty acids, but the breakdown for energy production in the cells is disturbed in the heart. Instead, it is stored there — and thus the heart muscle…