 Barked: Sat Nov 3, '12 2:36pm PST |
 | |  | | Hi Nikki, I was researching the same question when an internet search brought your question up from the Dogster forum. I realize the entry is from 2006, but I thought I might include a response anyway, just in case you are still searching for an answer. I just finished reading an article by Bruce Fife, N.D., entitled "Canola Oil: Is It Healthy?" in the November/December 2012 issue of Well Being Journal. I've been searching for the answer myself to the question, "Which oils are healthy and which are dangerous for dogs (and humans)?” Fife brings up some interesting points that I hadn’t heard before. If I understand the article, he says that canola oil is not a natural oil. Rapeseed contains glucosinolates (a natural insecticide) and “a particularly nasty fatty acid, erucic acid.” In order to reduce the erucic acid, rapeseed has been genetically modified. The U.S. allows up to 2% erucic acid and Europe allows up to 5%. Apparently, according to Fife, even 2% can have very negative effects on the human body causing serious metabolic disorders. The article mentions studies done on animals and states that canola oil can cause rise in blood pressure, insulin resistance, risk of stroke, can cause kidney lesions and shorten life span. The article mentions a Canadian study that fed canola oil to piglets and, even though adequate vitamin E was provided, the piglets became vitamin E deficient. Another thing I learned from this article is that ANY oil that contains a higher amount of Omega-3 (such as flaxseed, canola, etc.) should never be heated because Omega 3’s are very delicate and highly sensitive to heat, will oxidize and will change into very toxic substances which will quickly deplete the body of antioxidant Vitamin E stores, possibly leading to serious diseases such as cancer, heart disease, muscle degeneration, etc. Fife states that all canola oil is processed under temperatures over 300 degrees, and because most has been genetically altered and heavily sprayed with insecticide, it cannot be marked “certified organic.” Fife says that it is the food companies that have touted food products as “healthy,” in order to make them “best sellers”. Fife is a certified nutritionist and naturopathic physician. He is director of the (nonprofit) Coconut Research Center. My question would be, “If canola oil is present in dog food (canned or dry) at how high of a temperature is it processed?” I just checked an online source for “raw organic, cold-pressed, canola oil” and it is for sale. It is advertised as “USDA Organic and Kosher Certified”, as well as non-GMO and pesticide free, so I’m not sure who to believe. PetfoodIndustry.com states that rapeseed oil “had a high content of erucic acid (an omega-9 fatty acid) that made it an effective industrial lubricant important to the war effort,” during World War II, but also that, “unfortunately, consumption of rapeseed by livestock led to an enlargement of the heart and poor performance as a direct result of erucic acid.” It speaks of “plant breeders” coming “to the rescue” and reducing the erucic acid and thus a new name for the oil was coined, “Canadian- oil-low-acid” or “Canola” oil. So, if the rapeseed was genetically modified to reduce the erucic acid, how can it be non-GMO? I think I will be sticking with raw, cold-pressed alternatives such as organic flaxseed oil, organic hemp oil, organic olive oil, and virgin coconut oil added to my puppy’s homemade food until I figure this out for myself.  I'd love to hear what you have discovered in your research since 2008.Edited by author Sat Nov 3, '12 5:03pm PST
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