Hi,
I have assumed you're using it to cook with rather than for industrial
or agricultural purposes, so I've tried to track down the best quality
Colza. Most Colza production is done on a large, agricultural scale,
and it's often produced from transgenic crops, treated with all kinds
of chemicals, and sold only in bulk.
Note: Colza oil has many names across the world. Over in the UK we
know it as rapeseed or coleseed oil. Colza is known in Canada - the
world's biggest producer of the stuff - as Canola. Canola is colza
which has had the harmful erucic acid bred out of it. See
http://www.xrefer.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=537930 .
There are widespread rumours that refined varieties of Colza/Canola
can be bad for the health:
Be Careful of Canola
http://www.garynull.com/Documents/spectrum/be_careful_of_canola.htm
Say no to Canola Oil
http://www.healthfree.com/paa/paa0004.htm
However, good old snopes provides a fine debunking here:
Snopes: Toxin du Jour
http://www.snopes2.com/toxins/canola.htm
The Canadian company below produces an organic, unrefined oil which is
believed to be free from genetically modified Colza.
Maison d'Orphee - Canadian Canola
http://www.maisonorphee.com/news/volume3_ang.htm
Another brand to watch out for is Spectrum Canola Oil. It's organic,
unrefined and thoroughly pure. It's also produced by a Californian
company, which is a bonus!
Spectrum Naturals
http://www.spectrumnaturals.com/culoils.html
Here's a site in Pasadena, CA which sells Spectrum oil online for
$4.89 for a 16 oz. bottle:
Synergy Diet
http://www.synergydiet.com/specorcanoil.html
I hope this is what you're looking for. If you need any more
information, please ask for clarification.
grimace |
Clarification of Answer by
grimace-ga
on
22 Jun 2002 03:56 PDT
Hi,
Sorry - I've had a sudden crisis of conscience. The above answer
assumes that you were wanting to use the oil for cooking. If you were,
in fact, wanting to use it for another purpose (oil lamps,
lubrication, soapmaking etc.) the above answer would be no use to you.
If so, please post a clarification request and I'll respond
appropriately.
grimace
|
Clarification of Answer by
grimace-ga
on
22 Jun 2002 04:37 PDT
More sources for Spectrum canola. These companies are not based in
California, so shipping will take longer and may be pricier:
http://www.villageorganics.com/canoil32ozby.html
$7.19 for a 32 oz bottle - three for $20.55.
http://motherearthscreations.safeshopper.com/865/7398.htm?518
$4.00 for a 16 oz bottle.
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
firebreather-ga
on
22 Jun 2002 12:22 PDT
I am interested in colza oil for its flamable properties and have come
upon many historical colza oil burning lamps that use this type of
oil. This is the type of pure, additive free colza oil I am looking
for. More specifically I am firebreather performer and a friend of
mine used colza oil once instead of the petroleum based lamp oil
"parafin" and said it worked wonderfully without any of the bad taste
and harmful residues. Any ideas?
|
Clarification of Answer by
grimace-ga
on
22 Jun 2002 15:10 PDT
Okay - I'll look into it and get back to you tomorrow. Thanks for your
clarification!
|
Clarification of Answer by
grimace-ga
on
23 Jun 2002 07:53 PDT
Hi there -
Right - if you're looking for a tasteless firebreathing experience, I
wouldn't recommend *pure*, unrefined colza. I doubt it tastes as bad
as paraffin or kerosene, but according to this site - it ain't tasty
either:
"The crude oil is dark and has an unpleasant taste and a
characteristic smell. After refining the oil is pale yellow in colour
and is tasteless and odourless."
FoodNet: Tropical Commodities
http://www.cgiar.org/foodnet/market/Tropcomm/part2c2.htm
In fact, a refined version of colza may be what you after; and Canola
looks like it might be just the ticket.
According to this report, canola is ideal for use in colza lamps:
"Taking a lead from history I tried several vegetable
oils. As I noted above, olive oil doesn't work very well.
Safflower oil is even worst, it's thicker and harder to
light. Corn oil and Vegetable oils tend to be smokey and
stink. The best fuel that I found was canola oil."
Experiments with Domestic Lighting
http://www.florilegium.org/files/HOME/flt-wick-lmps-art.text
Canola is highly flammable and so should also work well for
fire-eating. See the MSDS here:
Canola Gold Material Safety Data Sheet
http://www.soygold.com/PDFs/CanolaGold110.pdf
Unfortunately, having trawled through alt.juggling and other
fire-breathing sites and groups, I haven't found any reference to
anyone using Canola, Colza, Rapeseed or Coleseed Oil in
fire-breathing. Your friend might be something of a pioneer here!
Okay - I think I'm going round in circles here. Let me sum up what
I've found, then.
* Firstly, colza oil *as such* may not be a good idea. The
alternative, which has all but replaced it on the US and most other
markets, is Canola. This is essentially the same thing, but is
selectively bred to reduce erucic acid, which may have toxic
qualities.
* Canola works well in colza lamps. Did you know that Mollie Bloom in
James Joyce's Ulysses had a colza lamp, by the way?
* Canola is as flammable as old-fashioned colza, but has less of the
nasty taste. This seems to me to make it ideal as a performance
medium.
* The prices offered at the sites I've quoted above seem to be pretty
representative for good quality, additive and GM-free Canola. If you
were using the stuff *exclusively* for lamps, you could find something
cheaper, but as you're putting it in your mouth (though hopefully not
swallowing it!) I'd advise you to go for the good stuff.
If there's anything else you're uncertain of, please ask for more
clarification.
grimace
P.S. I'm always horrified and fascinated by watching fire-breathers -
please be careful!
|
Clarification of Answer by
grimace-ga
on
25 Jun 2002 12:40 PDT
By the way - my more productive search strategies (all Google or
Google Groups searches):
"colza oil"
colza canola
canola organic
canola lamp
canola firebreathing
canola flammable
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