Is canola oil really safe?

Here’s some information that I found on the Web regarding the dangers of using canola oil, which is being promoted as a healthy oil, but is really just another form of rapeseed oil. When cooked, the latter produces dangerous, cancer-causing fumes.

Here are some excerpts of the letter, which I hope you can publish:

"Recently I bought cooking oil that’s new to our supermarkets, canola oil. I tried it because the label assured me it was lowest in "bad" fats. However, when I had used half the bottle, I concluded that the label told me surprisingly little else and I started to wonder: Where does canola oil come from? Olive oil comes from olives, peanut oil from peanuts, sunflower oil from sunflowers; but what is a canola? There was nothing on the label to enlighten me, which I thought odd. So, I did some investigating on the Internet. There are plenty of official canola sites lauding this new "wonder" oil with all its low-fat health benefits. It takes a little longer to find sites that tell the less palatable details. Here are just a few facts everyone should know before buying anything containing canola:

"Canola is from the words "Canada" and "oil." Canola is a genetically engineered plant developed in Canada from the rapeseed plant, which is part of the mustard family of plants. According to AgriAlternatives, the on-line innovation and technology magazine for farmers, "By nature, these rapeseed oils, which have long been used to produce oils for industrial purposes – lubricants, soap, fuel and rubber – are toxic to humans and other animals. Rape oil, it seems, causes emphysema, respiratory distress, anemia, constipation, irritability and blindness in animals and humans. Rape oil was widely used in animal feeds in Europe between 1986 and 1991. In 1995, an article was written by Amal Kumar Maj and published in the Wall Street Journal, detailing the carcinogenic effects of rapeseed oil in Chinese stir-fry cooking. US and Canadian farmers grow genetically engineered rape plants and manufacturers use its oil (canola) in thousands of processed foods, with the blessings of Canadian and US government watchdog agencies. They admit it was developed from the rapeseed, but insist that it is no longer rapeseed, but canola." – Jennifer

As a concerned health foods consumer, I am reluctant to consider that the cooking oil that’s been most favored (just a notch below olive oil!) by nutritionists and US Food and Drug authorities should be given such a bad reputation. Although some studies link the European rape herb as a feed crop for animals to the emergence of mad cow disease, these have been speculative and provide no conclusive proof of being the cause of this devastating bovine virus infecting millions of cattle across Europe.

Canola oil, oil low in toxicity, is extracted from the rape plant’s seed (hence rapeseed) and is high in monounsaturated fatty acids. Unlike saturated fats, like butter, and animal fats, like margarine, monounsaturated fats provide a more heart-friendly option for cooking. While canola oil can be found on the same supermarket shelves as vegetable oil, peanut oil and corn oil, it also stands among the bottles of sunflower and safflower oil in health food stores. Rapeseeds are organically grown and not genetically modified.

It is best to keep your cooking oil in a cool, dry section of your kitchen to prevent it from oxidizing and becoming rancid. To check for freshness, take a sniff of the oil and make sure that it has still retained that fruity aroma. If it is other than aromatic, toss it out.

Buy smaller bottles of cooking oil to keep from using too much and discard oil that you have cooked or fried food in. In this way, you may totally eliminate the desire to even fry your food!

Olive oil boasts the best flavor and has the most health-promoting qualities, but since it is more expensive and has lower burning point, it is best to use the second best – canola, corn or safflower oil. All three have higher burning points (it takes longer for these oils to reach a burning point) and are relatively inexpensive.

* * * Laguna Cheese And Singaporean Black Pepper Crabs

Where can I find Laguna cheese in Metro Manila? Do you have a recipe for black pepper crabs (Singapore cuisine)? –Rachel Louise C. Sarmiento

I believe that Laguna, where you are absolutely sure of finding this delicious kesong puti, is close to Metro Manila. If you mean somewhere near the center of Metro Manila, like Quezon City, Pasig City, or Makati City, try Santi’s along Timog Ave. (near the rotunda at Tomas Morato Ave.), Bon Appetit in Shangri-La Plaza Mall, or the Santi’s outlet in Makati, behind the fire station. Goat cheese is also available at Cabalen’s Pinoy Deli.

Here’s a black pepper recipe particularly for crab claws (whole Dungeness crabs can be used here, too):

Seed and finely chop a red bell pepper, a long, green chili pepper, and two Mexican jalapeno peppers. Add the peppers to 1/2 cup of vinegar and 1/2 cup of olive oil. Chop a half-cup each of some fresh cilantro (wansoy) and flat-leaf parsley (kinchay) and add them to the pepper vinaigrette.

In a deep, covered kettle, boil an inch of water and set the crabs into the boiling water for about five minutes. Wait and see if they have turned a bright orange color before removing them from the kettle. The process is more similar to steaming the crabs, rather than boiling them. You could also use a steaming metal plate in the water, which will hold the crabs above the water level.

Remove the crabs and allow them to cool enough so that you can crack them open with a nutcracker or a hammer. Rub some rock salt and cracked black pepper all over them and place them under a broiler rack inside your oven and broil for another five minutes. The crabs can be brushed with the pepper vinaigrette or dipped in it separately when served.

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