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Complicated science involved in cooking oil

...Exposure of oil to air or oxygen produces oxidation and rancidity with its unpleasant odour," he writes."Heat speeds the damage done by light and oxygen, and at high temperatures, does its own unique kinds of damage."This is why healthy oils like flaxseed, soybean and sunflower oils are usually sealed tight in tinted bottles, and/or kept in refrigerators at grocery stores away from heat and light.

Frying with these oils - or baking them for an hour or more - is bad news for your health."Oxidation products can be pretty toxic," Marangoni says.

"You won't die on the spot, but they're not good for you.

They break down into highly reactive species and they go into your system.

They could react with your DNA and proteins if you eat a lot."Which oils should not be fried?

Any oil that is highly unsaturated, like soybean, flaxseed or sunflower oil.

You can also check an oil's label.

If polyunsaturated oils make up about 50 per cent of the oil, it is considered highly unsaturated."To heat them a little bit is OK," Marangoni says, "but to do continuous frying is not a good idea.

For a little bit of frying in the pan, canola, corn and olive oil would be OK."© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007 other stories Ads by Google #footer_news {display:none;} #footer_news .foo...

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Complicated science involved in cooking oil