Flavor

• Safflower oil, like canola oil, has a very mild taste. They can both be used in cooking without interfering with the flavors of the other foods.

SmokePoint

• With safflower oil having a smoke point of 450 degrees F and canola of 400 degrees F, they are both good for high-heat cooking but safflower will do even better in high-heat situations, such as when using a wok.

Fat Type

• Canola oil is low in saturated fat and high in monounsaturated fats, making it a very healthy, omega-3-rich choice. Safflower oil comes in regular and in high oleic acid versions, with its high oleic acid version having the best kind of fat, monounsaturated fat (like canola oil) and the regular version having plenty of the second-best, polyunsaturated fat.

Nutrition

• One tablespoon of canola oil contains 12 percent of the daily requirements of vitamin E and vitamin K. One tablespoon of safflower oil contains 23 percent of the required vitamin E but only 1 percent of the required vitamin K.

Which Is Better?

• There isn't much difference between the two oils, unless you are concerned about the rate of genetic engineering in rapeseed crops for canola or the particularly high amount of vitamin E you can get from sunflower oil.