Oil change: Bon Appetit swaps canola for olive oil at the salad bar

Home News Oil change: Bon Appetit swaps canola for olive oil at the salad bar
Oil change: Bon Appetit swaps canola for olive  oil at the salad bar
Bon Appetite food service welcomes new employees. Joshua Lee | Colle

Students who are worried about the negative health effects of canola oil no longer need to be concerned.

Starting this week, the salad bar in Knorr Family Dining Room will serve olive oil instead of canola oil. 

“We think it’s the right product to have at the station,” said David Apthorpe, general manager of Bon Appetit. “As we move out of pandemic mode we’re looking at all aspects of our service and while safety is paramount, returning to the core values of our business is critical.”

Canola oil is a vegetable oil derivative of rapeseed oil, which contains an exorbitant amount of erucic acid, a toxin that is harmful to humans and may cause heart disease. Although canola oil contains significantly less erucic acid than rapeseed oil, some studies have found that canola oil can be toxic.

Graduate student Brian Freimuth is a self-proclaimed social crusader against processed foods. Based on what he has studied, Freimuth said it seems vegetable and canola oils are not meant for human consumption.

“They have been shown to weaken the immune system and damage white blood cells,” Freimuth said. “I encourage everyone to look into the blogger and nutritionist, Ray Peat. Companies continue to use them in processed foods because of the high-profit margins they deliver by making products cheaper.”

Like with any processed food, Freimuth added, there’s something unnerving about the amount of chemicals funneled into canola oil.

“Our ancestors did not eat canola oil. It is a processed food product that can require many chemical processes to do things like remove unappetizing odors,” he said. “Vegetable oils were only used as industrial lubricants until the Big-Ag lobby pushed for them to be allowed in processed foods.”

Sophomore Kalli Dalrymple has paid close attention to her nutrition and eating habits ever since she developed chronic migraines years ago. She said she much prefers olive oil to canola oil.

“Olive oil has antioxidants and other qualities that are better for your overall health, your heart, your hair, your nails, your skin,” Dalrymple said. “Also, bottom line, it just tastes better.”

Senior Claire Lupini, an avid salad eater, concurred.

“I once watched a documentary that talked a lot about olive oil,” Lupini said. “It adds more fragrance and flavor to the food than other types of oil. I also think it’s better for cooking.”

Although Lupini never partook in the canola oil while it was offered, she said she may diversify her taste in salad dressing in the near future.

“I knew it wasn’t good oil,” she said. “But now, I’ll probably try the olive oil once or twice.”