The problem with Italy is that you can find nearly nothing. I also love soapmaking, and 100% of my supplies come either from the UK or the US, with very high shipping costs.
Concerning baking, I found a site in the UK that carries a lot of American stuff, such as Corn syrup and molasses and Crisco. I also got a couple of cake mixes for white cake and red velvet, as a friend of mine once sent me the red velvet mix for a gift, and at the US customs they threw it away!!!!!
Ok, I looked at the site, for English bakers out there it’s : http://www.americansweets.co.uk/index.asp
They carry canola oil. I’m a bit exitating as I read it’s toxic as it is derived from a genetically modified raw material, but maybe using it just once in a while can be ok.

I’d also like to start a thread (but have to check first if it isn’t already existing) concerning baking substitutions.
i.e. sour cream, heavy cream and things like that which connot be found out of the US. I think that it may be good for foreign people like me who want to give baking a try…....

maghina - 24 November 2009 03:12 AM

They carry canola oil. I’m a bit exitating as I read it’s toxic as it is derived from a genetically modified raw material, but maybe using it just once in a while can be ok…

Maghina, I am a pharmacologist with USC’s College of Pharmacy, I cannot find ANY information in any toxicology resources, could you send me the reference information on this canola toxicity? I have never heard of this, and have queried my associates here on this and none of them are familiar with this as a problem.

I am very interested in researching this, and would still take you up on the swap offer if you’re interested.

Canola oil is sold in supermarkets here without control nor reservation (and the FDA here has a hair trigger for any food concerns). Researching the oil in the FDA site turns up nothing but references to its heart-healthy attributes…  Please, help me out here.

tdwyatt, I can find again and send you the info, but it’s in italian!!!!! ......Ok, I found a page that is in english, here’s the link http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/canola.htm: So honestly, just prefer to use another oil….....

Concerning the fiori di Sicilia, I’d need to know what it is exactly. We commonly use in baking orange flower water, but I don’t know if it’s what you mean. Let me know!

maghina - 25 November 2009 01:41 PM

tdwyatt, I can find again and send you the info, but it’s in italian!!!!! ......Ok, I found a page that is in english, here’s the link http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/canola.htm: So honestly, just prefer to use another oil….....

Concerning the fiori di Sicilia, I’d need to know what it is exactly. We commonly use in baking orange flower water, but I don’t know if it’s what you mean. Let me know!

Her only documented information source is based on extrapolations of non-controlled studies by health-food proponents like John Thomas based on colloquial information from proponents of alternative health food and medicines in general, it has no peer-reviewed literature nor controlled studies that stand up to scruitny,  I did find info at her site indirectly if there are others that wish to evaluate this source: http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/canola.htm (do not include the “:” colon)

Thanks for the info, but it is not considered much more than word of mouth without controlled evaluations of her (Shirley’s-wellness) claims.  There may be info that is considered legit out there, but it is not evident in extensive searches of estabished trustworthy data bases, including those with known predispositions toward anti-industrial POVs.  Cooking at very high tempertures (> 260°C = > 500°F) with unrefined canola oil such that it begins to aerosolize as a burned/converted product of the erucic acid caused an increased chance of lung disease (but so do most cooking oils that DO NOT contqin erucic acid), and consumption of diets HIGH in erucic acid (sources like unrefined circa 1970 rapeseed oil at 60%) caused heart lesions when fed at many times the normal fried food intake levels to lab animals .  I don’t want to discount your point of view on this, but there is little documentation to support it on canola oil as a toxin, especially as canola oil contins less than 0.5% erucic oil even unrefined now.

Rather than take a stance either way, I include the Snopes site info refuting this common urban legend:

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/canola.asp

also see:
http://www.canola-council.org/canola_oil_the_truth.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapeseed

HTH

Thanks Tom, for all the good links, I’m gonna read them now! 
One never knows enough!

I’m not getting involved in this discussion, but Maghina, I use only organic rapeseed oil.  It’s readily available here in the UK.

Thank you for the info, Annie!

let me know how your cupcakes turn out
I would love to see the results and try it myself too sometime during christmas

Hi Maghina - Canola oil is widely sold in South Africa along with Sunflower oil. We grow Canola as does Canada and the US.

There are quite a few postings on the web by interest groups warning against Canola but it is also sold in the US who have very high food safety standards. From a heart health point of view Canola has a very low saturated fat content.

Generally I tend to disbelieve the glowing claims of growers and manufacturers of products and have learnt to be cautious:  I choose sunflower oil in preference to Canola and where possible always use a natural product - olive oil or butter -  first and foremost. From what I can gather Canola is present in some brands of shortening.
For background Wiki says : “Canola was developed through conventional plant breeding from rapeseed, an oilseed plant already used in ancient civilization. The word “rape” in rapeseed comes from the Latin word “rapum,” meaning turnip. Turnip, rutabaga, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, mustard and many other vegetables are related to the two canola varieties commonly grown, which are cultivars of Brassica napus and Brassica rapa. The negative associations due to the homophone “rape” resulted in creation of the more marketing-friendly name “Canola”. The change in name also serves to distinguish it from regular rapeseed oil, which has much higher erucic acid content.”

The Mayo Clinic had this to say: “Health concerns about canola oil that are being circulated on the Internet are unfounded.

Misinformation about the safety of canola oil may stem from the fact that, years ago, oil was produced from the rapeseed plant. Rapeseed oil contains very high levels — 30 percent to 60 percent — of erucic acid, a compound that in large amounts can be toxic to humans. The canola plant was developed by natural cross-breeding from the rapeseed plant in the early 1970s. Canola oil is produced from canola plants, not rapeseed plants.

Canola plants have very low levels of erucic acid. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), canola oil contains erucic acid levels in the range of 0.3 percent to 1.2 percent. This is well below the 2 percent limit set by the FDA.

Canola oil is very low in saturated fat and has a very high proportion of monounsaturated fat. So, it’s a healthy and safe choice when it comes to oils.”

Thank you Paul, your post was really very clear and I got the point. It happens, when you don’t know a subject, that the first things you read can influence you one way or another…....and as I had not “run into” canola oil before, I thought that what I read was the truth of facts.

Cupcakes are still waiting….....
Aggie, I’ll let you know the outcome as soon as I bake them!