Canola oil is a vegetable oil made from the seeds of the canola plant. It is used mainly as a cooking and salad oil and in such foods as margarine and shortening. Canola oil has a pale yellow color and is almost tasteless. It is popular with health-conscious consumers because it contains low levels of saturated fats, which have been linked to heart disease, and high levels of essential fatty acids, which are necessary for good nutrition.
Canadian plant breeders developed the canola plant in 1974. It is a variety of the rape plant (see Rape). Rapeseed is a traditional source of cooking oil in China, India, and northern Europe. Unlike rapeseed oil, canola oil has little erucic acid, a fatty substance thought to contribute to heart disease.
Canola seeds consist of about 45 percent oil. To extract it, producers squeeze the seeds with a machine and then soak them in a liquid that draws out the remaining oil. The material that is left, called canola meal, is fed to animals. Canada and Europe are the leading producers of canola oil.
