Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae (mustards). The term "rapeseed" applies to oilseeds from the species Brassica napus and Brassica rapa, while the term canola refers to specific rapeseed varieties bred to produce oil for use in human and animal foods. In manufacturing, the edible varieties of canola are required to contain less than 2% erucic acid in Canada, the United States, European Union, and many other countries.
Canola is produced as low erucic acid rapeseed (LEAR) oil and is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
