Expellar pressed canola oil

[newcastlemama]

Here is the thing. I really like Annie's naturals dressings and they have expellar pressed canola oil in them. Talk to me about that. Is it the canola oil that is bad or the high heat processing that is done to it usually? I know I can make my own dressing but I am not up for that at the moment.


Thanks,
Jen

[pampered_mom]

Even when I was veg canola oil was something we stayed away from...
From what I understand it has a storied history, but I think the key issue is certainly the heat.

Here - http://www.mercola.com/2002/aug/14/con_ola1.htm

I know you said you're not up for it (boy can I relate to that sometimes), but making dressing is actually not all that bad and you could actually just make enough for one or two servings. To make it even easier choose a recipe with mustard in it - it's an emulsifier so will help the oil and vinegar go together easier and stay together longer. Ex: Dijon mustard, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar; Lemon juice, olive oil, dijon mustard, and raw honey. SF includes flax oil in most of her recipes, of course for the efas.

[Gale Force]

I hear you, Jennifer. Even in the homemade dressing department, it would be nice to be able to use canola oil.

[Ruthla]

The expeller pressed canola oil is probably "less unhealthy" than high heat processed canola oil, but it's still not a traditional food.

If you're not ready to jump head-first into traditional eating, it's quite reasonable to use Annie's ready-made salad dressings for now as a compromise.

[Gale Force]

Here's a discussion of it from Whole Foods.

[newcastlemama]

From the Whole Foods website:

Where has Rapeseed oil traditionally been consumed?
Rapeseed oil has traditionally been consumed in Eastern Europe (especially Poland), India, Japan, China and Canada for thousands of years. In the context of a healthy, traditional diet, rapeseed oil has not been reported to cause any health problems.

That is interesting....

[Plummeting]

My favorite salad dressing has soy oil in it. I've yet to make a homemade dressing that I actually like. I've gone from eating two large salads a day to maybe one a week. I've been considering switching back to it despite the soy oil. I was using about 1.5 to 2 Tbls a day, and there was vinegar, water and olive oil along with spices, so I bet less than 1/2 that was soy oil. It seems like 1/2 Tbls a day of soy oil couldn't be that bad. Of course, I'm sure that's probably wishful thinking, so I haven't switched back yet and I'm missing my salads every day.

[caedmyn]

plummeting--have you tried any mayonnaise-based dressings? I didn't like any of the dressings I made, either, until I made some Thousand Island dressing. It doesn't taste exactly like Thousand Island (but then I leave out a couple of ingredients to make it easier to make) but it's pretty close.

[kbchavez]

Bragg's makes two tasty salad dressing with only EVOO. They do have small amounts of Bragg's aminos in them, which puts me off a little, but otherwise, they're the healthiest store bought salad dressings I've found.

[Plummeting]

Originally Posted by caedmyn

plummeting--have you tried any mayonnaise-based dressings? I didn't like any of the dressings I made, either, until I made some Thousand Island dressing. It doesn't taste exactly like Thousand Island (but then I leave out a couple of ingredients to make it easier to make) but it's pretty close.

I haven't tried that, but maybe I will. The only problem is that I never really cared much for Thousand Island. I like Italian dressing, but only if it's really salty and really garlicy, and not very tangy. (I'm not hard to please at all. )

[guestmama9916]

Has anyone seen The Future of Food? Its a documentary. My mom watched it recently and found out that most canola (and corn) is gentically modified these days even if its not labeled that way. I hate that its in so many of the organic snacks and salad dressings. I have noticed some organic products made with sunflower oil which seems to be a better choice to me.

Kim

[Chicharronita]

Originally Posted by kbchavez

Bragg's makes two tasty salad dressing with only EVOO. They do have small amounts of Bragg's aminos in them, which puts me off a little, but otherwise, they're the healthiest store bought salad dressings I've found.

I have some of their dressing as a back-up to home-made. The fact that they use good oil is more important to me than the small amount of questionable ingredients that are in it (although, if you have an MSG sensitivity you may want to avoid it because it probably contains it).

[Gale Force]

Originally Posted by kimbernet

Has anyone seen The Future of Food? Its a documentary. My mom watched it recently and found out that most canola (and corn) is gentically modified these days even if its not labeled that way. I hate that its in so many of the organic snacks and salad dressings. I have noticed some organic products made with sunflower oil which seems to be a better choice to me.

Kim

It's on our netflix list. Thanks Kim.

[Chicharronita]

Originally Posted by Gale Force

It's on our netflix list. Thanks Kim.

I let my three year-old watch the ending of the movie, where they show someone in a haz-mat suit spraying strawberries. I told her that's why we get organic, because they're not sprayed like that. It really made an impression on her, which is good since she loves eating them and didn't understand why I won't get the kind that aren't organic before showing her that scene.

LOVE Netflix, btw.

[kbchavez]

Originally Posted by Chicharronita

I have some of their dressing as a back-up to home-made. The fact that they use good oil is more important to me than the small amount of questionable ingredients that are in it (although, if you have an MSG sensitivity you may want to avoid it because it probably contains it).

Chicarronita- why do you think the dressings have MSG? From the Bragg's aminos? I avoid MSG as much as possible, esp. when pregnant, so if something I'm eating has it, I definitely want to know. It frustrates me that so many organic products at the HFS just say "spices" on the label... which in an organic product PROBABLY doesn't mean MSG, but definitely raises doubts, YKWIM?

[Chicharronita]

Originally Posted by kbchavez

It frustrates me that so many organic products at the HFS just say "spices" on the label... which in an organic product PROBABLY doesn't mean MSG, but definitely raises doubts, YKWIM?

It is so frustrating that food manufacturers try to deceive us about this issue. There's a good list of where MSG could be hidden available at:
http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html

I'm glad you said something, because when I went there to take a look at the list, something I hadn't done in a while, there's this new information:

"The new game is to label hydrolyzed proteins as pea protein, whey protein, corn protein, etc. If a pea, for example, were whole, it would be identified as a pea. Calling an ingredient pea protein indicates that the pea has been hydrolyzed, at least in part, and that processed free glutamic acid (MSG) is present. Relatively new to the list are wheat protein and soy protein.
Disodium guanylate and disodium inosinate are expensive food additives that work synergistically with inexpensive MSG. Their use suggests that the product has MSG in it. They would probably not be used as food additives if there were no MSG present.

MSG reactions have been reported to soaps, shampoos, hair conditioners, and cosmetics, where MSG is hidden in ingredients that include the words "hydrolyzed," "amino acids," and "protein."

Low fat and no fat milk products often include milk solids that contain MSG."

How about this:

"Beware -- "Organic" Doesn't mean "no MSG" --

"Autolyzed yeast" and "natural flavoring" in organic products
contain just as much processed free glutamic acid (MSG)
as in conventional products"

http://www.truthinlabeling.org/organicP.html

Grrrrr.

[Sharondio]

I was beyond ticked to read about the autolyzed yeast. I mean, it sounds so healthy! It was on the organic broth I bought, how bad could it be?



And that "nutritional yeast" I used to sprinkle on everything back in my veg days? :