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Comment by Ntrails | Hacker News Reader

I always wondered what the hell canola was (not enough to look it up, but, still)

CANadian Oil Low Acid, it’s lower in erucic acid than other rapeseed cultivars. In the early 70s there were studies in rats that showed that erucic acid caused heart disease so canola was marketed as being healthier.

That's the same acid which lead to mustard oil being banned, hence it being labelled 'for ceremonial purposes only' or something similar in Indian groceries in the US as a wink-wink workaround.

Is mustard oil used in a lot of Indian cuisine? I wonder if that has something to do with the high rates of heart disease in people of Indian descent?

I have no firsthand knowledge of Indian home cooking, but here's an article about it which claims it's common.

https://www.seriouseats.com/2020/02/mustard-oil-guide.html

From what I've seen in passing most people attribute rising heart disease to economic prosperity leading to a more westernised diet but I haven't really looked into it.

More common in some northern states than in south India.

"Indian cuisine" is not a monolith and in fact, regional cuisines are disparate, contrary to the image derived from Indian restaurant menus abroad. Some parts of India like West Bengal (which is in east India) famously use mustard oil in a lot of their cooking. Other parts of the country never use it.

(I'm Indian.)

I've only seen it used to make Aam ka achaar (mango pickle)

It stands for CANadian Oil Low Acid.

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