Even Martha Stewart gets her canola info from the Canola Council – You could almost hear computer keyboards across North America simultaneously clicking in search of www.canola-council.org after the world's best known domestic diva touted the Canola Council's website as a trustworthy source of information on canola oil, live on the air on Wednesday.
Erin McKenna, owner of Babycakes bakery in NYC, was demonstrating two recipes on Martha Stewart Live, Stewart's television show. McKenna uses canola oil in both featured recipes and a number of others. However, neither Stewart nor McKenna knew anything about canola oil. Stewart instructed her staff to find the answer, and after running into the myths about canola on www.cooking.com, they found the truth on the Canola Council's website.
"Here is why I always tell everybody you can't trust the first place you go to on the Internet," said Stewart. Then she moved to her notes from the Canola Council site. "It says canola is the healthiest oil of all commonly used cooking oils. It is not rapeseed oil," she explained. "So I think I would trust the Canola Council of Canada, wouldn't you?"
Stewart still has a little to learn about canola oil - she referred to the canola "bean" at one point - but she did clarify most of the misinformation. Hopefully her staff will also add the correct information to her own website.
To see the Babycakes brownie recipe, go to http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=recipe5560064&layout=martha
Oprah's fitness guru jumps on the canola bandwagon - Unilever's Hellmann's Canola Real Mayonnaise (Best Foods) features prominently in a new book by Bob Greene, Oprah Winfrey's personal trainer. In his lifestyle and diet book called The Best Life Diet, Greene highlights Hellmann's and several other Unilever products for their nutritional benefits.
These products will bear the "Best Life Approved" seal of approval logo to help consumers identify the products that Greene say meet his criteria to provide healthy and convenient choices for consumers. Throughout the book, the same products are included in recipes, suggested as snacking or hydration options, or to aid in weight loss.
Here's what Best Life has to say about Hellmann's Canola Real Mayonnaise: It is a "great-tasting way to maintain a healthy diet because it contains a balance of the 'good' fats, such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Additionally, Hellmann's Canola Real Mayonnaise is trans fat free, low in saturated fat and an excellent source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids."
For more information on Greene's book, visit www.bestlife.com
Biscuitville chain chooses canola oil - All 50 restaurants in the southern U.S.-style Biscuitville chain converted to Nutra-Clear canola oil in October and November in an effort to cut trans fat.
"Because many of the zero trans fat oils on the market actually raise saturated fat levels, it was important for us to find an oil that does not exchange one fat for another," says Larry Williams, purchasing director. Nutra-Clear is produced by Bunge, using Nexera canola seed from Dow AgroSciences.
California could terminate trans fat - According to news reports, California lawmakers are considering a trans fat ban similar to the one recently imposed in New York City. The same reports also indicate that the state government is already recommending restaurants switch to canola or olive oil.
Biotech crops pass 100 million hectares - At the beginning of the second decade of biotech crop adoption, biotech crop area jumped 12 million ha (13%) to 102 million ha, according to the annual report by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications. Growth from 1996-2006 is equivalent to a 60-fold increase.
The number of farmers planting biotech crops surged past 10 million for the first time, growing to 10.3 million from 8.5 million farmers in 2005.
Firehouse chef interviews reach millions – Radio interviews with The Food Network's Firehouse Chef, Joe Bonanno Jr., sponsored by CanolaInfo, have reportedly reached about 23 million listeners. It's all accomplished from one studio, with CanolaInfo guidance on providing healthy messages about canola oil.
Journalists participating in the interviews were given copies of The Healthy Firehouse Cookbook as a jumping-off point for talk about canola oil. Bonanno did two subsequent interviews on the same topic, that would have reached an additional audience.
CanolaInfo sponsors women chefs – If you're interested in seeing how CanolaInfo puts its sponsorship dollars to work, tak a look at Aperitif!, the official newsletter of the Women Chefs and Restaurateurs association.
Click on http://www.womenchefs.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=32
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