North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Stephen Sadler" <Docshiva@Docshiva.org>]

It is confusing.  I found sources that say no gm, others that say yes.
Whole Foods stores have a fairly succinct summary:

"Is Canola genetically engineered?
No. Canola oil is a variety of rapeseed that was bred through traditional
plant breeding methods in the 1970s to contain less erucic acid - its
development predated genetic engineering by almost 20 years. Traditional
plant breeding methods involve selecting desired traits followed by crossing
these traits into existing varieties until the offspring exhibit the desired
characteristics. But, while it is true that canola oil was not originally
developed using genetic engineering methods, today some forms of canola are
genetically engineered. In order to avoid genetically engineered canola oil,
it is recommended to buy organic canola oil, which by definition would not
be genetically modified."  

Copyright 2001-2006 Whole Foods Market, reprinted with permission

Stephen 

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of list@ginda.us
Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2006 8:50 PM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] RapeSeedMythology


On Aug 9, 2006, at 11:41 PM, mangodance wrote:

>> It's a common belief that the seed used to produce the
>> oil was genetically modified, but what I've read
>> indicates that it is not.
>
> If I read your statement correctly, you're saying that canola oil  
> is not
> prepared from genetically modified (GMO) seed?  If so, I would check
> your source. . . .

This is a confusing topic, because there have been false claims that  
canola oil crop was developed through genetic engineering.

1)  The crop plant was originally bred from ordinary rape through  
ordinary selective breeding.  This reduced the toxins in the oil to  
the point where it was practical to refine it for human food.

2)  Since then Monsanto has genetically engineered a version of  
canola that is resistant to RoundUp.  The vast majority of the crop  
is currently genetically engineered, if I remember my facts right.   
And Mr. Mangodance is right about the peculiar legal theory that has  
prevailed under which a Canadian farmer growing non GMO rape or  
canola whose crop is contaminated by pollen from a nearby field of  
Monsanto canola is guilty of "theft" if he doesn't pay royalties (or  
something?) to Monsanto.

Ginda