September 28, 2007

Federal government matches funding to support Canola Council’s export marketing activities - The Honourable Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board, has announced a $1.47 million contribution to the Canola Council of Canada in support of creating new global marketing opportunities for Canada's canola exporters.

This funding, under the Canadian Agriculture and Food International (CAFI) program, supports the long-term international strategy of the Canola Council to enhance the use and value of canola, canola oil and canola meal in priority markets around the globe. It is matched by funds contributed mainly by prairie canola growers.

"The Canadian canola industry is aiming for 15 million tonnes of production by 2015 and we know that there will be international demand for that canola," said Dave Hickling, Canola Council of Canada vice-president of canola utilization. "CAFI funding will continue to be critically important for the market development efforts required to meet our objectives of increased volume and value."

The Canola Council is also working to raise the profile of canola oil as premium oil in several current and developing markets such as the U.S., Mexico and certain Asian markets.

Omega-3s may reduce the risk of childhood diabetes – Omega-3 fatty acids from plants and fish may help prevent the development of Type 1 diabetes in children at risk. Researchers from the University of Colorado at Denver examined the influence of omega-3 fatty acid intake on diabetes in 1,770 children, aged 1 or older, who were at increased genetic risk for developing Type 1 diabetes.

For each 800-milligram increase in daily omega-3 fat intake - the amount found in 1.3 ounces of Atlantic salmon, two teaspoons (10 ml) of canola oil, or four walnut halves - the risk of developing diabetes auto-antibodies in the bloodstream was reduced by 55 per cent over the course of the study.

Children in this study consumed most of their omega-3 fats from plant sources rather than seafood. Three omega-3 fatty acids are found in food: DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and ALA (alpha linolenic acid). Cold-water fish such as salmon, trout, sardines, tuna, mackerel and herring contain DHA and EPA. ALA is plentiful in flax, canola and walnut oils as well as soybeans. Once consumed, some ALA is converted to EPA and DHA in the body.

Check the research details at the Journal of the American Medical Association: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/298/12/1420

Ted's Montana Grill kicks out the trans - All 51 of Ted's Montana Grill restaurants in 18 states now offers a completely zero trans fat menu. Ted’s spokesperson Randy McAdoo says the chain went through “extensive testing to make sure all of our recipes and ingredients address this issue and still remain flavorful and delicious". The team tested 10 different cooking oils before choosing high-oleic canola oil, instead of the traditional partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.

Canola oil makes fast food healthier Down Under - Australia’s quick service restaurant industry has announced it will voluntarily reduce trans fats to a very low level - and cut the saturated fat content of its food. The Aussie QSRs have agreed to switch from oils such as palm oil to heart-healthy oils such as canola - a move which will significantly reduce the saturated fat content of fried foods.

Heart Smart health e-letter says ‘canola oil makes a healthy choice’ – From a recent article in the online health-letter from the Henry Ford Hospital Heart and Vascular Institute: If you've heard negative rumors about canola oil, you might question why we use it in so many of our recipes. The bad press on canola stems from the fact that it originates from the rape plant. Oil from the rapeseed is high in erucic acid -- a known toxin.

Canola oil, however, is not rapeseed oil. In the 1970s, Canadian scientists used traditional plant breeding methods to develop a rape plant whose seed oil contained very little erucic acid. They named this new plant canola. The amount of erucic acid in canola is well under the limit set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. No research has found that canola oil poses any risk to humans. On the contrary, canola oil is lower in artery-clogging saturated fat than any other oil and contains more heart-healthy monounsaturated fat than any oil except olive oil.

CanolaInfo reinforces healthy canola oil messages - CanolaInfo consultants will be attending the American Dietetics (ADA) annual conference and trade show in Philadelphia September 28-October 2 and a Healthy Kitchens,Healthy Lives conference at the Culinary Institute of America October 4-7. For details of these meetings check out ADA at http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/events.html and Healthy Kitchens at http://www.healthykitchens.org/index.php

New industry partnership to focus on increasing efficiency of canola nitrogen use - According to a Monsanto media release, U.S.-based Monsanto and Israeli-based Evogene will collaborate to improve nitrogen use efficiency in canola, corn, soybeans and cotton. Under the agreement, Monsanto gains exclusive rights to a number of genes discovered by Evogene that help plants maintain yield with lower applications of nitrogen. Monsanto will work to evaluate the use of those genes in its research and development pipeline.

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