Canola oil can help Chinese consumers meet the new dietary guidelines released by the Chinese Nutrition Society 13 May 2016, said Lawrence MacAulay, Canada鈥檚 Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, at an event today celebrating a new Sino-Canadian partnership. Canola is the number two imported oilseed and number three imported cooking oil in China, which leads the world in vegetable oil consumption.
The guidelines advise consumers to keep total fat intake to 20-30 percent of total daily calories. They also recommend up to 30 grams (2 tablespoons) of cooking oil per day for most ages; for children ages 4-7 no more than 25 grams and for 2-year olds, 20 grams. Trans fat intake should be minimized by everyone at no more than 2 grams per day.
鈥淟ow in saturated fat with zero trans fat, canola oil is an ideal source of fat for Chinese consumers,鈥� noted Bruce Jowett, vice president of market development for the Canola Council of Canada. 鈥淢oreover, scientific studies show that canola oil reduces the risk of heart disease when used in place of saturated fat. Considering canola oil accounts for 9 percent of China鈥檚 vegetable oil imports today, it is already contributing to the nation鈥檚 health.鈥�
鈥淎 variety of cooking oils, including canola oil, fit into China鈥檚 new dietary guidelines,鈥� said Dr. Du Songming, president assistant of the Chinese Nutrition Society. 鈥淯sing vegetable oil instead of solid fat for everyday cooking is an easy change consumers can make to increase the intake of unsaturated fat and reduce the intake of saturated fat. This will help decrease their risk of heart disease.鈥�
Canola oil has about half the saturated fat (7%) of sunflower (12%), olive (15%), soybean (15%) and groundnut/peanut (19%) oils 鈥� and the most plant-based omega-3 fat (11%) of all common cooking oils. Canola oil is also extremely versatile with a neutral flavour and colour, light texture and high heat tolerance (smoke point of 242 掳C/368 掳F). These many benefits cost only a few jiaos per serving.
Canada is the primary supplier of canola to China, Jowett noted. It exported nearly 4 million tonnes of canola seed and 608,000 tonnes of oil there in 2015 alone.
鈥淐anola oil has the potential to significantly improve Chinese public health, especially as consumers become more aware of its benefits,鈥� MacAulay said. 鈥淐anolaInfo 鈥� with the support of the Canadian government 鈥� is committed to raising this awareness, such as partnering with the Chinese Nutrition Society. This will help make Canadian canola oil more competitive in an important market such as China.鈥�
CanolaInfo is the oil promotion program of the Canola Council of Canada (CCC). The CCC is a full value chain organization representing canola growers, processors, life science companies and exporters. Keep it Coming 2025 is the strategic plan to ensure the canola industry鈥檚 continued growth, demand, stability and success 鈥� achieving 52 bushels per acre to meet global market demand of 26 million metric tonnes by the year 2025. The CCC will celebrate its 50th anniversary at the annual Canola Council Convention, March 7-9, 2017 in Winnipeg, MB.
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