Rapeseed oil (or Canola Oil) is a healthy and much cheaper alternative to olive oil, and has a pleasant light taste. We all know that Olive Oil is good for us – it’s a staple part of the ‘healthy’ mediterranean diet and a rich source of cholesterol-lowering monounsaturated fats.
A lesser-known fact is that whilst a litre of extra virgin Bertolli, Filippo Berio or Napolina will set you back £6-8, a litre of rapeseed oil, with potentially even greater health properties than olive oil, can be bought for just over £1!
Rapeseed oil is predominately a monounsaturated fat but it contains less saturated fat and provides far more omega 3 than olive oil, as well as being a source of Vitamin E. The oil has a very light taste and is perfect for frying, baking, salad dressing and every-day cooking.
Another great benefit of rapeseed oil is it’s price. You can buy Mazola rapeseed oil in Sainsbury’s for £1.39 per litre or Goldenfields rapeseed oil in Watirose at just £1.09 per litre. Tesco do their own organic rapeseed oil for £2.82 per litre – still less than half the price of olive oil.
At the higher end of the market you can buy British-produced cold-pressed rapeseed oils such as Farringtons Mellow Yellow, Borderfields and Hillfarm for around £4-5 for 500mL. Cold-pressed oils are said to be fuller in flavour and goodness than heat-treated varieties and as the health benefits become more widely recognised and the demand for British produce increases we can probably expect to see more and more local farmers producing gourmet rapeseed oils.
9 Comments
Miranda
May 18, 2009 at 11:49 amI really need to buy some of this sounds great – at this time of year with all the beautiful yellow fields of rape, makes me wonder what its all used for – so now I know!
Ron higham
March 23, 2010 at 12:46 amdo you know where i can buy Goldenfields rape seed oil im the lancashire uk area
thanks
trish
May 23, 2013 at 1:27 pmi like you suffer dreadfully if i eat this oil. not just band cramp and dirhea but also terrible wind and vomiting. i avoid the oil when possible but eating out is a game of chance. i take anti histamane tablets which help somewhat.
Sue
March 23, 2010 at 2:13 pmIs there a known intolerance to rapeseed oil? I get incredibly painful stomach cramps about 8-12 hours after consuming anything food cooked with rapeseed. I am also B12 deficient and have not yet started treatment. Does anyone have any similar experiences…?
Laura
April 25, 2010 at 3:05 pmHi Sue, it appears that you are not the only one – whilst it doesn’t appear to be very common there are some reports out there from people who suffer similar symptoms after consuming rapeseed oil (or canola oil).
Tricia
December 14, 2011 at 9:53 pmMy husband has a rapeseed oil intolerance and it seems he isn’t the only one. It can be quite tricky to indentify as foods which contain vegetable oil may or may not contain rapeseed oil.
Mike
August 29, 2011 at 1:49 pmI would never recommend Canola oil. Most of it has been produced from genetically modified crops – modified to reduce the amount of rapeseed’s natural toxin (erucic acid) to make it palatable for human consumption. Generally, anything that needs to be genetically modified to be palatable has to have a large question mark hanging over. Olive oil will always be worth the extra money – from a health viewpoint.
tony
June 26, 2013 at 8:46 amBoth my daughter and I suffer a nasty reaction after consuming food that has been fried in rapeseed oil.
My own very unpleasant re4action is that literally an hour after the meal I have violent diarrhoea.
Very worrying when many reataurants when asked cannot confirm or deny the use of thsi oil
Miranda
June 6, 2018 at 10:35 amHave you tried Rice Bran Oil as an alternative