Rapeseed oil intolerance question

Pips55

After 4 years of keeping food diaries and trying to work out which food it was that was upsetting my digestion I have finally realised it seems to be rapeseed ~ I also thought it was dairy and have been avoiding that. So I now cook with olive oil [I check to make sure they have not used mixed oils] then I realised, like you, that the mayonnaise includes this too ~ I read the labels of maybe 10 different mayonnaises ~ even the one that says with olive oil was also made with rapeseed ~ they had added olive oil too. However the good news is that I found 2 that do not use rapeseed ~ Dutchy and Simple. I was also using block Stork margarine as non-dairy but found that that too had rapeseed in ~ so will go back to pure sunflower oil for baking ~ I have now been avoiding rapeseed oil for about 3 weeks and it has made a huge difference ~ almost back to my old self!! [difficult when eating out as it is not an allergen that is named!]

Ian_Pritchard

I found I was intolerant to rapeseed oil in 2009 and eating out is getting more difficult. Yes it’s difficult eating out as especially chain restaurants are spreading its use.
A warning for everyone having pizza at any of the chains in the UK they use it in there pizza bases now instead of olive oil. I’m not sure how you can change a key ingredient and still say you are keeping to a traditional recipe. Even Frankie & Benny’s have now succumbed to be added to the list including Dominos, Pizza Hut & pizza express who still maintain there traditional recipe hasn’t changed until you tell them your intolerant to rapeseed. For those of us who are suffering this isn’t clever or funny. Both burger king and McDonalds have mixes of oils containing rapeseed. Most chains cook in it Nando’s , zizzis to name check a few. Rapeseed oil appears on the chart at number 17 intolerances and allergies yet we don’t get take seriously or get turned away. Even Jamie Oliver’s restaurant managed to give it to me. So it’s poor right across the UK, perhaps Jamie should look at allergies and intolerances in his own restaurant, rather than advertising a major supermarket. Perhaps we’ll get somewhere if a politician gets to suffer until then I think we are largely stuck with it being added to bread, cakes, pizzas, crisps.
On a positive note for those with rapeseed intolerance and lactose intolerance pure sunflower oil margarine actually has no rapeseed oil in it yet. If anyone has a bright idea about how we get the chains to take notice and to stop the rapeseed companies trying to say that these allergies and intolerances don’t exist then let me know

Woodsy142

I recently realised I have an intolerance to rapeseed oil, I seem to be able to handle the levels found in day to day life such as in bread and butter, but if anything gets fried in it, for example chips then I end up very ill. If something is cooked with it like pizza or breaded fish then I end up with an upset stomach. However, where possible I have been swapping to items without the oil, although this is difficult at the moment as I'm a student at university. In the past it's not been a problem, but it has become more popular to use rapeseed oil as it is apparently cheaper and healthier than alternatives.

I don't know about other families but it seems to run in mine, my mother has felt ill after eating things with rapeseed oil in, but generally has a milder reaction.

I spoke to a doctor about it and had a blood test done, which said I have a minimal reaction, however they also said that oils are really hard to test for a reaction, and often the results are wrong.

It is possible to avoid it in general, but you may have to buy slightly more expensive items, as rapeseed is apparently cheaper. A lot of restaurants use the oil now, I generally have to call ahead now to see what oil they use, although some of the more upmarket ones are more likely to be accomodating for us. I have had several offer to replace items with rapeseed in with alternatives without for no cost, even if they wouldn't normally do so, like chips to dauphinoise potatoes

Gloomendoom

Out of interest, people are saying that rapeseed oil is being used in in an ever increasing variety of food products, but what oil is it replacing?

jilly26

Im celiac and most of gf packaged food has rapeseed oil.i can tolerate a slice of bread with it in but if i eat even a small cake later in the day that has it in i get a hot flush reaction and mild sweating feeling.its a nightmare ingredients 

baggins11

This is very interesting jilly26!  I actually use rapeseed oil as I thought it was a healthy fat. 

My daughter has a palm oil (we think) intolerance and she can tolerate some things with palm oil in - it depends how processed it is which you can't tell from labels.  I didn't have a clue that rapeseed oil can cause sensitivities.  

What do people use instead when hot frying things?  I use olive oil for some cooking but you are not supposed to get it too hot.

Sparxva

baggins11 said:

What do people use instead when hot frying things?  I use olive oil for some cooking but you are not supposed to get it too hot.

We usually use soy oil when a lot of oil is called for because it is cheap, or avocado oil when using only a little oil.  Unfortunately, avocado oil is quite expensive, even at Costco.  Both oils have high smoke temperatures and are preferable than olive oil for cooking.

Sparxva

kippers wrote: »
Unfortunately we can't use butter as it contains dairy / lactose   

Be careful about using butter substitutes too.  My parents loved to cook with Crisco as something supposedly healthier than butter, but it is made with canola oil too.  It definitely wasn't healthier for me.

boultdj

Canola oil is what the USA call rapeseed oil, I just stick to sunflower or olive oil for cooking/ baking with and old fashioned butter if I'm having a slice of bread. 
I am lucky in that now I can eat a little of something with rapeseed in, but only if it's the last oil on the list and it has taken years to get to that level.

jilly26

I have a rapeseed oil intolerance to the point where it affects my chest.chest pain,face flushing,weak feeling,sweating,palpitations.ive had numerous ecgs and lung tests all is fine.im gluten intolerant as well but rapeseed oil is by far the worst for nasty reactions.most baked stuff and ready meals have it in including gluten free.i now eat only stuff without it in and i start to feel better within a day or two.it is used for cheapness but suppliers to shops do not realise that it can be a very nasty high price to pay for some.it wont kill you but it will make you ill