Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: thedoc on 05/10/2013 10:30:01
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Nicki asked the Naked Scientists:
I recently bought a packet of raisins and noticed an extra ingredient. Cottonseed oil.
Usually raisins and sultanas have vegetable or sunflower oil included.
I am of the understanding that unless classed as organic, cotton growing relies heavily on high amounts of herbicides and pesticides to keep the crop productive.
As the oil is a byproduct of cloth making and not food growing are we inadvertently consuming dangerous levels of toxins?
I also thought many of the cotton plants were genetically modified. Am I right in thinking that food containing GM should be labelled as such.
I have looked on the internet about this and get two very different viewpoints depending on whether its the cotton industry or people concerned about what they eat.
Since my initial purchase I have noticied more and more products using this. Should I be worried?
I know I can trust you.
Still loving your shows. Nicki x
What do you think?
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If I was going to worry about cottonseed oil I would worry about the fact that it's naturally toxic, rather than traces of pesticides.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gossypol
However, the processing of the oil for food use will remove most impurities so it's probably a non-problem.
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Among other things, it has been tested as a male oral contraceptive in China.
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Here is a summary of two different methods of processing the cottonseed oil. (http://www.westfalia-separator.com/applications/renewable-resources/cottonseed-oil.html) The processing seems to rely on the Gossypol becoming water soluble in a basic solution. Then the oil is separated from the aqueous phase. It may also involve drying and evaporation.
Thus, any chemical that had a relatively high boiling point, is heat stable, and is oil soluble may in fact be able to pass through the processing.
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Among other things, it has been tested as a male oral contraceptive in China.
[xx(] [xx(] [xx(]
Here is a summary of two different methods of processing the cottonseed oil. (http://www.westfalia-separator.com/applications/renewable-resources/cottonseed-oil.html) The processing seems to rely on the Gossypol becoming water soluble in a basic solution. Then the oil is separated from the aqueous phase. It may also involve drying and evaporation.
Thus, any chemical that had a relatively high boiling point, is heat stable, and is oil soluble may in fact be able to pass through the processing.
Unless it's removed by the bleaching and deodourising processes.
The deodourising process involves treatment with high temperature steam which will destroy a lot of organic compounds. The bleaching is an absorption process and will strip out polar materials.
That's got a pretty good change of removing the pesticide residues.
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/fatsoils/fatsoils3b.html