Q. I recently heard that canola oil is really an industrial oil and not fit for human consumption. I now think that there's rarely, if ever, a need for canola oil. A light olive oil is neutral enough even for baking.
Canola oil is extracted from rapeseed, a plant in the cabbage family.
The truth is that canola oil is monounsaturated and thus healthier than saturated or polyunsaturated oils, but I still consider it a distant runner-up to olive oil. We know from research studies that populations that consume olive oil as a primary dietary fat have significantly lower rates of both heart disease and cancer than those that don't. We have no comparable epidemiological data for canola. I've always cautioned against buying canola oil found in supermarkets. These products have been extracted with chemical solvents or high-speed presses that generate heat.