> Another objection is that the oil is the product of a hybrid.

Traditional plant breeding involves techniques such as selection,
grafting, and cross-pollination. Breeding by selection at least mimics
natural selection, and some hybrids will occur in nature. However, at
least some varieties of canola are made by true genetic engineering. The
DNA is manipulated directly, and genes from other plants or bacteria may
be spliced in. That's what scares people.

     These canola lines contain gene sequences derived from the
California
     bay laurel tree with other regulatory sequences from other
organisms.


http://www.nal.usda.gov/bic/Federal_Biotech/news/1994.news/0846.94.html

The whole biotech industry is faced with the difficult problem of
proving a negative. How can one prove that an engineered food will
never, under any circumstances, harm anyone? Of course, many natural
products fail that test.

Oil from genetically engineered plant seeds is prima facie doubly
non-paleo. However, a thorough chemical analysis of the canola oil
commonly available in grocery stores ought to show whether it has any
unique properties that make it more of a health risk than other
vegetable oils.

I think the fear of such products involves the same sort of belief that
sustains faith in homeopathic remedies: there's something undetectable
in there but it's very powerful, for good or ill.

Bill Dooley