Bad image for canola

[charliep]

Thanks for your comments.

I still like to look at labels when I shop at the grocery store. A fact I learned at Alberta canola growers meetings is than non hydroginated does not necessarily mean they have used Nexera or Inter mountain - it just means the oil has been processed differently (would have to dig further to put the exact terminology around - you have an economist versus a chemist).

The second thing to watch for is the return of palm oil/other tropical oils in margarines. Hydrogination is a process that allows canola/other oils to solidify in margarine type products. It brings up issues in canola of more saturated fats in canola products like margarine.

I find the whole area of watching trends around vegetable oils/health properties pretty confusing. A resource person I find very useful is Simone Demers Collins (Alberta Canola Producers Commission). The issue is to understand these factors as best we can as an industry and position canola in the most advantageous way.

[charliep]

When I commented on palm oils/other tropical oils/cottonseed, I should have indicated this processed can be used instead of hydrogination. This potentially creates new challenges down the road.

[Lifer]

I'm not sure what has to be repaired.

I don't see Canola getting a bad image out of what is happening.

All I see is opportunity. We have the best quality salad oil on the market. We have the best quality frying oil. Our oil can be used in other umpteen different non food uses.

How do we as a canola industry respond to these opprtunities?

So what if Hostess decides to use Sunflower oil, long term we are in a good position. We don't need to sell to everyone.

[charliep]

This thread got me thinking about the differences between trans fats and saturated fats (still confuses me). So I did a google search.

A couple of articles I came up with (there are many more):

http://health.discovery.com/encyclopedias/1922.html

http://www.mercola.com/2001/jul/21/trans_fat.htm

Just as a matter of curiousity, do your families shop specifically for healthier type vegoils and magarine? What kinds of questions do you get asked by city relatives/friends regarding oil characturistics/health trends?

[r.reid]

E-mail the Canadian Canola Council. Ask them what they have planned. I did.

[Lifer]

R.Reid what do you think of the Canola Council plan?

[ward.toma]

Trans fats are a known health issue. It is not an opinion, they negatively impact the cholesterol balance. While trans fats are bad, saturated fats are only marginally better. Because of this Health Canada included trans as part of total saturated fat on the new food labels. More information on trans fat can be found at http://www.canola.org.

The new recommended food guide lines in the US call for the majority of fats consumed to be healthy ones. The Canola Council of Canada worked with the US Canola Association in lobbying the US government to make this change in its dietary guidelines. Go to http://www.uscanola.com for more info on this. The CCC is working with Health Canada in its re-design as well.

Trans fats create an opportunity for the canola industry. Canola has a solution in higher stability oils. Even standard canola oil used in the fry market is 0 trans and low in saturated fat.

It was noted that some companies have moved to safflower oil. However, just because they added safflower to the mix, does not mean they abandoned canola oil. The most likely case is that they added safflower because they can’t get the volume of the high stability oil they require and safflower is the next best, cheapest source.

Trans fats are an issue for the hydrogenated vegetable oil products market. This affects canola primarily in the baked goods business as manufacturers may switch to high sat fat products. It is not a large problem in the margarine market as trans fat free margarine is easily made, just add saturated fat rather than hydrogenated vegetable oil. Overall, this formulation is still healthier than butter, which has a high level of the not recommended saturated fat. Research is on going at the University of Alberta and elsewhere into making low sat, trans free margarine.

I hope this helps, if anyone wants more information please contact me at ward.toma@canola.ab.ca

Ward Toma
Alberta Canola Producers Commission

[Lifer]

Mr. Toma I would like to understand a report made on one of the national news reports that Trans fats are ten times worse than saturated fats.

Is this true? and is there real science to back this claim?

[wd9]

Mr Toma. I understand that the government claims there is 3% trans fats in canola oil. Is there factual evidence of this or are they speaking without objective data.

[ward.toma]

Lifer and wd9

The American Heart Association has posted information on its website that states, in summary, that the effect of transfat is to increase bad cholesterol and decease the good. What trans does is throw the blood lipid balance out worse than saturated fats do. However the AHA states states the magnitude has not been clarified. The various studies have shown the effect, but have not been able to come up with even a range of magnitude. I do not know where 10% came from. The AHA website can be found through the Canola Council of Canada website at http://www.canola-council.org.

As to trans in canola oil, it is true that the current processing method will produce a small (<1%) amount of trans in the oil. The heat causes the trans to form. The Canola Council of Canada has a Canola Quality Study underway to determine this, and other quality issues. Furthermore, by introducing some changes into the processing of canola oil, the amount of trans can be greatly reduced. The Canola Council is meeting with the crushers to discuss this issue. To my knowledge the government has not been able to prove its 3% figure, and no one knows where that figure came from. If anyone can provide this information to me I would appreciate it.

Ward Toma
General Manager, Alberta Canola Producers Commission