Canola is very thin (unlike corn oil) and flavorless (unlike olive oil), so it largely succeeds by displacing soy oil, just as soy oil largely succeeded by displacing cottonseed oil. The production of vegetable oils went up 125% between 2000 and 2020, driven by a sharp increase in palm oil.
Where did canola come from?
Canola was bred from rapeseed cultivars of B. napus and B. rapa at the University of Manitoba, Canada, by Keith Downey and Baldur R. Stefansson in the early 1970s, having then a different nutritional profile than present-day oil in addition to much less erucic acid.
How is canola oil made?
Canola oil is made at a processing facility by slightly heating and then crushing the seed. Almost all commercial canola oil is then extracted using hexane solvent, which is recovered at the end of processing.
What is canola oil?
Canola oil is a food-grade version derived from rapeseed cultivars specifically bred for low acid content.