Canola oil IS a food oil, derived from the rape seed. But noone would buy "rape oil" so a new name was made up. I've heard that "Canola" comes from "Canada oil", Canada being a big producer of rape seed. Canola is similar to olive oil in that it is high in monosaturated fats ("good" fats). But it has a very mild flavor/odor compared to olive oil, and is good for uses where you don't want the olive oil flavor. Linda Iroff North Coast Ferret Shelter West http://www.oberlin.edu/~liroff/ncfs.html [Posted in FML issue 2243]