Commodity Product · Oilseed crushing co-product
Rapeseed Oil
Also known as: Colza oil, Canola oil (low erucic acid types)
Rapeseed oil is the oil separated from rapeseed during crushing. Low erucic acid oil is a major food oil — sold as canola oil in several markets — while high erucic acid oil is a segregated industrial product, and the two are not interchangeable.
Rapeseed oil is the principal reason rapeseed is crushed. It moves crude to refiners and refined into food and industrial channels, and in temperate agriculture it is among the most significant vegetable oils by volume, competing with soybean, sunflower, and palm oil in both food and fuel outlets.
The oil inherits the compositional category of the seed it came from. Oil pressed from low erucic acid seed is the food-grade article marketed as canola oil in Canada, the United States, and Australia and as rapeseed oil in Europe. Oil from high erucic acid seed is a distinct product with industrial uses, kept segregated throughout the chain. The name on the tank follows the seed and the jurisdiction, not the refinery.
Two oils, one heading
Low erucic acid rapeseed oil is used as a cooking and bottled oil, in food manufacture, and as a biodiesel feedstock; in the European Union it is a leading biodiesel raw material, which ties its price to fuel policy as much as to food demand. High erucic acid rapeseed oil goes to oleochemical uses such as slip agents, lubricants, and plasticisers, where erucic acid is the point rather than the problem.
Refining and the chlorophyll problem
Crude rapeseed oil is degummed, neutralised, bleached, and deodorised in the conventional sequence. Rapeseed brings a specific burden to the bleaching stage: chlorophyll carried over from green, immature seed gives the oil a green cast and impairs its oxidative stability. Removing it consumes bleaching capacity and materials, which is why crushers price green seed down — the cost appears in the refinery, not the field.
- Food — bottled cooking oil, frying, margarines, and food manufacture
- Energy — a leading biodiesel feedstock, particularly in Europe
- Industrial — oleochemicals, principally from high erucic acid oil
Quality and movement
Free fatty acid content, colour and chlorophyll, moisture and impurities, and phosphorus describe the traded oil, alongside the erucic acid status that determines which market it can enter. It ships in bulk tanks, rail cars, and parcel tankers, where tank cleanliness and previous cargo history are acceptance conditions — and where the food/industrial segregation must hold, because a shared tank undoes it.
Relationships
Evidence-backed connections in the knowledge graph.
Derived from
Produced by (derived)
Related topics
Scope & limitations
Geographic scope: Global. Oil naming — rapeseed oil versus canola oil — and compositional standards are jurisdiction-specific.
- This is a reference description of the product, not a refining specification, food-standards statement, or fuel-quality assessment.
- No erucic acid, fatty acid composition, chlorophyll, or refining-loss figures are given here; the applicable standard or contract sets them.
- The low erucic acid and other rape/colza oil HS subheadings are distinct — 1514.91 and 1514.99 also cover mustard oil and so are not specific to rapeseed.
- Biofuel policy and eligibility differ by jurisdiction and change frequently.
Sources
This article draws on the following authoritative sources. See our sources & methodology for how they are selected.
- [1]FAO — Food and Agriculture Organization (opens in a new tab)Authoritative
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Cited for: Vegetable oil processing pathways and food uses
- Type:
- Intergovernmental organization
- Jurisdiction:
- Global
- Accessed:
- 2026-07-12
- [2]European Commission — Agriculture and rural development (opens in a new tab)Authoritative
European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture
Cited for: Rapeseed oil food and biodiesel outlets in the European Union
- Type:
- Government agency
- Jurisdiction:
- European Union
- Accessed:
- 2026-07-12
- [3]AHDB — Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (opens in a new tab)High
Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB)
Cited for: Rapeseed crushing and oil quality context
- Type:
- Government agency
- Jurisdiction:
- United Kingdom
- Accessed:
- 2026-07-12