Experiments were conducted to determine the effects of feeding canola meal (Brassica campestris and Brassica napus) on the rat hepatic glutathione detoxification system and whether dietary cysteine supplements might modify such effects. Rats were fed test diets for 14 d. Body weight change, feed consumption, hepatic glutathione concentration, and hepatic glutathione-S-transferase (GSH-S-T) activities were determined. Weight gain was decreased when canola meal was fed, whereas hepatic glutathione concentrations increased, as did hepatic GSH-S-T activity. All effects correlated with total glucosinolate concentration in the canola meal. Dietary cysteine supplements, however, did not influence the growth reduction and increased hepatic glutathione concentrations caused by feeding canola meal. Supplemental cysteine prevented the elevation in hepatic GSH-S-T activity. The elevation in hepatic glutathione concentration caused by canola meals was not an overcompensation caused by an initial depletion and therefore reflected a general hepatotoxicity. Feeding supplemental cysteine increased hepatic glutathione levels at early time intervals and delayed the induction of GSH-S-T caused by canola meal toxicity. There was no beneficial effect of supplemental dietary cysteine in overcoming the toxicity of high levels of canola meal, but supplemental cysteine did modify the canola meal-induced changes in hepatic glutathione metabolism.