Seed Oil Scare: The Curious Case of Canola

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If you've been hearing that canola is a killer, you're not alone. It's one of the so-called "hateful eight" seed oils: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. says it's among the most deadly things you can eat, and Joe Rogan agrees. But is it true? This episode, we get to the bottom of the debate over the plant formerly (and still, in some places) known as rapeseed. Why does it have such an unfortunate name, and how did it transform into canola, at least in North America? Is it really engine oil? Does it actually contain a poisonous solvent? And why on earth are Brits buying up a fancy cold-pressed version by the gallon, as the new, home-grown olive oil? Are they roasting their potatoes with an inflammation- and disease-causing disaster? Listen in for the forgotten history and slippery science of this much discussed, little understood oil.

Fields of rapeseed, the yellow-flowered plant from which Canadian scientists bred the nearly-flavorless, oil-bearing variety we now call "canola." (Image credit: Duncan Farrington)

Episode Notes

Duncan Farrington

Duncan Farrington is the founder of Farrington's Oils and the creator of Mellow Yellow, a cold-pressed rapeseed oil grown entirely in the United Kingdom.

Michael Eskin

Michael Eskin is a distinguished professor in food and human nutritional sciences at the University of Manitoba, where he was part of the team that transformed rapeseed oil into the canola oil we grow and eat today. You can find his lipid rap online here.

Nicky and Geoff's oil tasting, featuring Fat Gold olive oil, Mellow Yellow cold-pressed rapeseed, and commercial canola oil. (Image credit: Nicola Twilley)

Carla Taylor

Carla Taylor is a professor in food and human nutritional sciences at the University of Manitoba, where she studies the health impacts of seed oil nutrients like omega-3s and linoleic acid.

Matti Marklund

Johns Hopkins University professor Matti Marklund studies the links between diet and disease. The paper he co-authored on the health impacts of linoleic acid is "Biomarkers of Dietary Omega-6 Fatty Acids and Incident Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality."

Darriush Mozafarrian

Darriush Mozafarrian is a cardiologist and the director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University. He was also a guest on our episode Nutrition Advice Decoded.

The tiny kitchen at the University of Manitoba where researchers prepared canola oil to feed to student volunteers in its initial safety trials—today, mostly used for storage. (Image credit: Nicola Twilley)

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the Public Understanding of Science, Technology, and Economics

This episode of Gastropod was supported by a generous grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the Public Understanding of Science, Technology, and Economics. Check out the other books, movies, shows, podcasts, and more that they support here.

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund

This episode of Gastropod was supported in part by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund for our coverage of biomedical research.