Have you ever wondered how canola and other seed oils are made? Watch this video link to learn more about the entire extraction and refining process. In summary, the following process is used to make the majority of seed oils:
First, seeds are gathered from the soy, corn, cotton, safflower, or canola (rapeseed) plants.
Next, the seeds are heated to extremely high temperatures. This causes the unsaturated fatty acids in the seeds to oxidize, creating by-products that are harmful to human and animal health.
The seeds are then processed with a petroleum-based solvent, such as hexane, to maximize the amount of oil extracted from them.
Next, industrial seed oil manufacturers use chemicals to deodorise the oils, which have a very off-putting smell once extracted. The deodorization process produces trans-fats, which are well known to be quite harmful to human health.
Finally, more chemicals are added to improve the colour of the industrial seed oils.
There are five main problems with industrial seed oils:
Regular consumption of industrial seed oils raises our omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratios, which can have a detrimental impact on our health.
Industrial seed oils are unstable and oxidise quite easily.
They contain harmful additives.
They are often derived from genetically modified crops.
When industrial seed oils are repeatedly heated (such as commercial deep fryers), even more toxic by-products are created.
For better health, I recommend using cold pressed extra virgin olive oil. Avoid (or limit) all commercial products containing these seed oils, such as: margarines, biscuits, cakes, dips, chips, etc.