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Am I eating GE canola?
What traits have been genetically engineered into crops?
Which foods have been genetically engineered?
What are the health, environmental, and social issues associated with genetic engineering?
How is genetic engineering regulated in the United States?
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About the creators of the GEO-PIE Project
  
More than 60% of Canada's rapeseed acreage-- the source of most U.S. canola oil-- is planted with genetically engineered varieties.


A rapeseed field in western Canada. Canola oil is extracted from the seeds of the rapeseed plant.
   

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Am I eating genetically engineered canola?
History and prevalence of GE canola.

 

 

Read more about GE herbicide-resistance.

  

Am I eating genetically engineered canola?

Definitely. Canola oil is extracted from the seeds of a mustard-like plant variously called "rape," "rapeseed," or "oilseed rape." GE herbicide-resistant varieties of rapeseed are popular in Canada, which exports more than 70% of its canola oil to the US. Canola oil is used in a wide array of products, including vegetable cooking oils, salad dressings, margarines, processed cheese, "non-dairy" products, chips, fried foods, cookies, pastries, soaps and detergents.


Read more about GE altered oil content.		  


In the US, one form of canola oil-- from rapeseed genetically engineered to have higher quantities of the oil laurate-- must be labeled as either "high laurate canola" or "laurate canola" because it is nutritionally different from conventional canola oil. Although relatively rare in food products, high laurate canola could be found in chocolates, candy coatings, confections, non-dairy creamers, low-fat margarines, soaps, detergents, and cosmetics.
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History and prevalence of GE canola

The first GE variety of rapeseed was Calgene's high-laurate rapeseed. This variety was first grown commercially in Georgia as a winter crop in the 1995-1996 growing season. Because its oil is considered a "value added" product, the modified variety is grown under contracts from Calgene, which purchases the seed and markets its oil under the brand name "Laurical." Calgene had hoped that Laurical would prove to be a good domestic substitute for imported oils like coconut and palm (used in chocolates, confections, non-dairy creamers, and a host of other products). High price and other undesirable compositional qualities, however, have limited its use in food products and it has found a small market as a substitute for cocoa butter. Although Calgene continues to improve the nutritional qualities of Laurical, plantings of high laurate rapeseed are limited, and Laurical is marketed exclusively as a "specialty oil."

Far more prevalent are the herbicide-resistant varieties of rapeseed. With the exception of a small area in the upper Mid-west, most canola oil used in the US comes from rapeseed plants grown in western Canada. Canadian regulatory agencies have approved several GE herbicide-resistant rapeseed varieties since the mid-90's, and these GE varieties now account for more than 60% of Canadian rapeseed acres (these varieties have also been approved for planting and food use in the US).
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