Mustard Oil—A tasty salad dressing or a really hot massage oil?

Mustard Oil

I recently came across a bottle of mustard oil at the Asian grocery store. I have used different types of oils before (olive, corn, grape seed, walnut, coconut, truffle) but I had never seen mustard oil. Speaking with the owner about it, I was told that it;s usually used in Indian dishes and can be used in a salad dressing.



 Once I got it home I popped the top off and took a whiff. It had a strong mustard smell; think of dry, powdered mustard dissolved in a light coloured oil—very strong! I parked it on the shelf with the other oils with the intent to use it within the next couple of weeks. The hunt was on  for a possible recipe.

I eventually found a recipe that I wanted to try - Borta. As I was looking for a recipe I kept noticing comments, posts and basically warnings about ingesting mustard oil. It seems as though are some cultural differences of opinion on whether or not it is acceptable to eat.

From BrightHub:
"Though, there are some benefits of mustard oil, it was once considered harmful for human health in countries such United States and Canada. This is mainly due to the high erucic acid content in the oil, which is about 42 percent. The ill effects of erucic acid from edible oils are controversial and yet to be confirmed. Hence it is always advised to consult a health expert or your doctor before using mustard oil."

When I checked out the bottle, I was stunned to see the statement: For external use only.
A bit more investigating and I found a site that quoted Health Canada's warning from 1998 regarding mustard oil. It turns out it that its not the mustard seed oil that is worry some, but a plant that looks similar to it and has been known to get mixed in with the edible crop.

From a food forum:
"It seems that there is a weed, which is almost indistinguishable from the mustard seed plant, which in some areas has contaminated the crops. Oil from this plant may contain the toxic substance."

Knowing that, my enthusiasm to try mustard oil in my next recipe has totally left the building.