What's the Difference Between Canola and Rapeseed Oils?
In the 1970s canola was created through traditional plant cross-breeding by removing two things found in the rapeseed plant: glucosinolates and erucic acid. Erucic acid was removed because it was believed to be inedible or toxic in high doses. The newly developed plant was renamed "canola" – a combination of "Canadian" and "Oil" (or ola) to make this difference apparent.
By definition, if a seed is labeled "canola" it has to have less than 30 micromoles of glucosinolates and less than 2% of erucic acid.