Four Reasons to Choose Canola over Vegetable Oil
Did you know that vegetable oil does not come from vegetables, like lettuce, carrots or tomatoes, despite the pictures often featured on the label?
Vegetable oil is the common name used on the front label for a number of plant-based oils. Turn over the bottle you’ll see possibilities such as soybean, sunflower and canola listed on the ingredient label, either individually or as a blend of oils.
Next time you are in the grocery store choose 100% canola oil for the following four reasons:
- It’s healthy. Canola oil contains the least saturated fat – about half that of olive, soybean, corn and sunflower oils – and the most plant-based omega-3 fat of the common cooking oils. Canola oil has a qualified health claim for reducing the risk of heart disease*.
- It’s neutral. Canola oil has a neutral taste and a light texture (unlike olive or coconut oils), which is what you want when preparing a spicy Mexican feast, tart lemon cake or an herb-laced dressing. The flavors of your ingredients, not your oil, take center stage.
- It can take the heat. You can broil, sear or even deep-fry with canola oil. With one of the highest heat tolerances of any cooking oil (smoke point of 468° F), it’s an ideal kitchen partner. Smoke points vary with the type of oil.
- It’s affordable. Even with all it has to offer, canola oil is very economical.
* The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized a qualified health claim for canola oil in 2006 based on limited and not conclusive scientific evidence that suggests that eating about 1½ tablespoons of canola oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the unsaturated fat content in canola oil. To achieve this possible benefit, canola oil is to replace a similar amount of saturated fat and not increase the total number of calories you eat in a day.