Canola oil is used in some of our products, such as Eskimo Kids, because it is one of the healthiest oils available. Canola oil is very low in saturated fats and high in monounsaturated fats. 

There is a lot of incorrect information about canola oil on the Internet, including some truly scary e-mails floating around. Canola oil is not poisonous. Canola oil comes from a variety of the rape plant, a member of the mustard family (as are turnips and cabbage). Rapeseed oil (from the rape plant) contains a high amount of erucic acid (30 – 60%), which some laboratory studies have found harmful to the heart. The plants that make canola oil have been hybridized to decrease the amount of this component to less than 1% of erucic acid, making it safe to use in cooking. The name of rapeseed oil was changed to canola oil (which stands for “Canada low acid”) to separate it from regular rapeseed oil, and obviously to distance the product from the unfortunate plant name. 

Part of the myth of canola oil is based on misconceptions. The rumors say canola oil is used as an industrial lubricant and insecticide. Many oils are used for exactly this purpose, and singling out canola oil is misleading. There are also claims that canola comes from the same plant used in mustard gas. Mustard gas is not made from a mustard plant, but is called mustard gas because of its smell when it was used in World War I.

There are positive health benefits associated with both flaxseed oil and fish oil.^† Research has shown that both fish oil and flaxseed oil support healthy lipid (triglycerides and cholesterol) metabolism, circulation, and cardiovascular function.^† Fish oil, however, contains fatty acids in the form utilized by the body; the fats in flaxseed must first be converted by the body before they can be utilized.