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Date: | Sun, 18 Aug 2002 02:51:15 -0400 |
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>>manufactured from rapeseed which is poisoness >>
>Urban myth. I got it, too. Check www.snopes.com for
>these myths. Frances
The immediate ancestor of the rape (rapeseed) plant is a species in the
mustard family that produces large amounts of erucic acid in the oil. Erucic
acid is quite toxic. "Canola" (Canadian-Oil, sounds a lot better than
"Rapeola", doesn't it?), has been bred to produce much less erucic acid.
There is debate on whether or not the amounts produced in modern plants are
"okay", some accepting it as GRAS and others doubting the long-term or
hidden effects of consumption.
I'm somewhere in-between, but I have to admit I'm suspicious of canola
simply because erucic acid is a single compound produced only by certain
members of the mustard family. The question is how many members of the
mustard family did our ancestors eat? Did they encounter enough erucic acid
over the millennia to adapt to it, even in small amounts? Are there other
similar compounds that our ancestors may have adapted to, therefore possibly
making it relative safe in small amounts? Obviously it's not an immediate
toxin in the amounts present, but I still wonder.
Ellie
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