Is Canola Oil Bad for You?
The American Heart Association points people toward vegetable oils like it. It advises choosing nontropical vegetable oils to cook and prepare food, calling them healthier choices than solid fats such as butter, shortening, lard and stick margarine and tropical oils such as palm and coconut oil. An American Heart Association News story on canola and other seed oils quoted Stanford nutrition scientist Christopher Gardner saying they are not to be feared.
The FDA’s position is more cautious. In a 2006 letter, it said it would consider exercising enforcement discretion for a qualified health claim that limited and not conclusive scientific evidence suggests eating about one and a half tablespoons (19 grams) of canola oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease because of its unsaturated fat content, if it replaces a similar amount of saturated fat without increasing total calories. The FDA said the small number of subjects in the supporting studies, and diets that were not strictly controlled in three of them, meant the evidence represented a low level of comfort among qualified scientists.
FDA regulations describe low erucic acid rapeseed oil, also known as canola oil, as the fully refined, bleached and deodorized edible oil obtained from certain varieties of Brassica napus or Brassica campestris.
Sources checked September 15, 2026. Every point below links the page it came from.
The sources behind this answer
- Medical referenceThe American Heart Association advises choosing nontropical vegetable oils to cook and prepare food, calling them healthier choices than solid fats like butter, shortening, lard and stick margarine and tropical oils like palm and coconut oil. American Heart Association ↗
- Medical referenceAn American Heart Association News story on seed oils quoted Dr. Christopher Gardner of Stanford University School of Medicine saying seed oils are not to be feared. American Heart Association News ↗
- Regulatory filingIn a 2006 letter the FDA said it would consider enforcement discretion for a qualified claim that limited and not conclusive evidence suggests about 19 grams of canola oil daily, replacing saturated fat, may reduce coronary heart disease risk. US FDA, via web.archive.org ↗
- Regulatory filingThe FDA said the small number of subjects in the six supportive studies, and three studies without strictly controlled diets, meant the evidence represented a low level of comfort among qualified scientists that the relationship is valid. US FDA, via web.archive.org ↗
- Regulatory filingUnder 21 CFR 184.1555, low erucic acid rapeseed oil, also known as canola oil, is the fully refined, bleached and deodorized edible oil obtained from certain varieties of Brassica napus or B. campestris. eCFR, 21 CFR 184.1555 ↗
Sources checked September 15, 2026. A brand statement is the company’s own claim, which we report but have not verified. Our grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests.