I recently received an email from Wayne who wanted to know about high oleic canola oil, which is marketed as trans fat free. He had eaten some foods that had it as one of the ingredients and did not like it at all. He was wondering if I had any information about it.
Trans fat free oils are those which are either naturally without trans fat or that have not been hydrogenated to increase the saturation factor. Margerine is a prime example of fat that has been transformed to make it have a longer shelf life. Oleic acid provides some stability to the oils and so scientists are breeding high oleic acid strains of things like corn and canola. With the exception of high oleic sunflower oil I have not been able to find clear evidence that these other oils are not genetically modified rather than the result of a direct breeding program. My recommendation is to choose organic oils, which means there will be no GMO and no pesticides.
Be well.