I stopped buying anything with rapeseed oil in it
I stopped buying any products containing rapeseed due to health implications and also flavour. There is a lot of hype on the internet about rapeseed oil, but if you research past all of it you will find information on the health hazards of using rapeseed oil aka Canola oil. Try 'fourwinds10 rapeseed' in your web search for an example. The following is an extract of links from the article there:
The Harmful Effects of Canola Oil
by Michael Grant White
Olive oil comes from olives, peanut oil from peanuts, sunflower oil from sunflowers; but what is a canola?
Rapeseed oil is poisonous to living things and is an excellent insect repellent. I have been using it (in very diluted form, as per instructions) to kill the aphids on my roses for the last two years. It works very well; it suffocates them. Ask for it at your nursery. Rape is an oil that is used as a lubricant, fuel, soap and synthetic rubber base and as a illuminate for color pages in magazines. It is an industrial oil.
It is not a food.
Rape oil is strongly related to symptoms of emphysema, respiratory distress, anemia, constipation, irritability, and blindness in animals and humans. Rape oil was widely used in animal feeds in England and Europe between 1986 and 1991, when it was discontinued.
A few relevant facts
It is genetically engineered rapeseed.
Canada paid the FDA the sum of $50 million to have rape registered and recognized as “safe”. (Source: Young Again and others)
Rapeseed is a lubricating oil used by small industry. It has never been meant for human consumption.
It is derived from the mustard family and is considered a toxic and poisonous weed, which when processed, becomes rancid very quickly.
It has been shown to cause lung cancer (Wall Street Journal: 6/7/95)
It is very inexpensive to grow and harvest. Insects won’t eat it.
Some typical and possible side effects include loss of vision, disruption of the central nervous system, respiratory illness, anemia, constipation, increased incidence of heart disease and cancer, low birth weights in infants and irritability.
Generally rapeseed has a cumulative effect, taking almost 10 years before symptoms begin to manifest. It has a tendency to inhibit proper metabolism of foods and prohibits normal enzyme function. Canola contains Trans Fatty Acids. Trans fatty acids have been shown to have a direct link to cancer. shown to have a direct link to cancer.
Foods (including oils) are often labeled as containing trans fatty acids. However any food which says it contains hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils contains trans fatty acids: Hydrogenation is just the process in which trans fats are formed (literally hydrogenation means adding hydrogen). These Trans Fatty acids are labeled as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. Avoid all of them!
According to John Thomas’ book, Young Again, 12 years ago in England and Europe, rape seed was fed to cows, pigs and sheep who later went blind and began attacking people. There were no further attacks after the rape seed was eliminated from their diet. Source: David Dancu, N.D.
Apparently peanut oil is being replaced with rape oil. You’ll find it in an alarming number of processed foods. I read where rape oil was the source of the chemical warfare agent mustard gas, which was banned after blistering the lungs and skins of hundred of thousands of soldiers and civilians during W.W.I. Recent French reports indicate that it was again in use during the Gulf War.
Check products for ingredients. If the label says, “may contain the following” and lists canola oil, you know it contains canola oil because it is the cheapest oil and the Canadian government subsidizes it to industries involved in food processing.
Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is a rare fatal degenerative disease caused by in a build up long-chain fatty acids (c22 to c28) which destroys the myelin (protective sheath) of the nerves. Canola oil is a very long chain fatty acid oil (c22). Those who will defend canola oil say that the Chinese and Indians have used it for centuries with no effect, however it was in an unrefined form.*
(* taken from FATS THAT HEAL AND FATS THAT KILL by Udo Erasmus.)
I read about a man who bred birds, always checking labels to insure there was no rape seed in their food. He said, “The birds will eat it, but they do not live very long.” A friend, who worked for only 9 mo. as a quality control taster at an apple-chip factory where Canola oil was used exclusively for frying, developed numerous health problems.
Rape seed oil used for stir-frying in China found to emit cancer-causing chemicals. (Rapeseed oil smoke causes lung cancer.) Amal Kumar Maj. The Wall Street Journal, June 7, 1995 pB6(W) pB6 (E) col 1(11 col in).
Compiled by Darleen Bradley.
Canola Oil in pesticides. The Health Ranger reveals how the No. 1 ingredient in a pesticide product is actually canola oil, and describes the warnings on the product which include that you should never get the oil on your skin or clothing. Soybean oil is also discussed as a key ingredient in another pesticide product.