From Cinderella to Leading Lady Canola is Canada’s major oilseed crop,  a result of the cooperative action of research scientists,  farm producers and commercial processors.  Until the early 1960’s Canada imported most of its edible oil. Concerted efforts during that decade focused attention on the edible oil potential of  rapeseed and the value of its meal for livestock feed. Rapeseed became known as Canada’s “Cinderella crop.”  Using traditional techniques,  plant breeders succeeded in developing rapeseed cultivars with superior nutritive value for edible oil by reducing erucic acid,  and for livestock feed by reducing the glucosinolates in the meal (1). A switchover of the entire western Canadian production of rapeseed to “double low”  varieties was orchestrated in the 1970’s (2). This change initiated a production increase which soared over the next two decades as illustrated in Figure 1. The name “canola” was adopted in 1979. Its 1986 trademark describes the rapeseed cultivars of Brassica napus  and Brassica rapa (campestris) whose seeds contain less than 30 micromoles of glucosinolates per gram of air dry,  oil free solid,  enhancing their value for animal feed,  and oil with less than 2% erucic acid,  resulting in a fatty acid profile comparable to that of other major edible oils (3,4). In 1985,  low erucic acid rapeseed oil was granted GRAS status (Generally Recognized As Safe) by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (3),  and in 1988,  the term “canola” with its trademarked definition was accepted (5). GRAS status provided Canadian canola exports with access not only to the U.S. market but also to other international markets which recognize the FDA’s food regulations. Canadian production of deodorized canola oil reached nearly 1.0 million tonnes by 2000,  a substantial increase from the 370,000 metric tonnes of ten years earlier. This accounts for nearly 75% of all edible oils deodorized in Canada. On a per product basis,  it represents nearly 90% of domestically produced salad and cooking oils,  50% of shortening and shortening oils,  and 45% of margarine and margarine oils (6). Figure 1 makes it abundantly clear that the greatest growth in canola oil products has been as a salad and cooking oil for both domestic use and export. Figure 1:  Development of Canadian Production of Deodorized Canola Oil (Vaisey-Genser,  1983,  Statistics Canada, 1984-1998) Fatty Acid Composition Canola oil enjoys a healthy fatty acid profile because of its low level of saturates and high level of monounsaturates. In addition it contains ample amounts of two polyunsaturates which are “essential”  in the diet because our bodies cannot manufacture them (Table 1). Recently the desirability of increasing the North American intake of a  -linolenic acid,  has been recognized for its potential to reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and stroke. As of 1990,  Health Canada recommends that the ratio of linoleic:  a  -linolenic acids in the diet be shifted from the present range of 10:1 to 25:1 to one ranging from 4:1 to 10:1 (8). Using regular canola oil helps to achieve this goal. by Dr. Linda Malcolmson and Marion Vaisey-Genser Canola Oil: Performance Properties Of Canola Oil