The seed oils list: every seed oil, and what it is called on the label
A seed oil is an industrial cooking oil refined out of a seed, usually with high heat and a chemical solvent, and it is very high in polyunsaturated fat (PUFA). The short list is 8. The full list is below: 22 oils, the PUFA share of each, and the names every one of them goes by on an ingredient label.
The 8 main seed oils: canola, soybean, corn, sunflower, safflower, cottonseed, grapeseed, and rice bran oil.
The 8 main seed oils
PUFA share is polyunsaturated fat as a percentage of the oil's total fat. The higher it runs, the more seed oil load every spoonful carries.
| Oil | PUFA share of fat | Why people avoid it | On an ingredient label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canola (rapeseed) oil | 28% | The most common restaurant oil. Cheap, heavily refined, very high in PUFA. | canola oil, rapeseed oil, low erucic acid rapeseed |
| Soybean oil | 58% | The number-one oil in the American diet, often hidden as "vegetable oil." | soybean oil, vegetable oil, soya oil |
| Corn oil | 55% | A refined, high-PUFA oil common in frying and processed food. | corn oil, maize oil |
| Sunflower oil | 65% | High in PUFA unless it is a "high-oleic" version, which is more stable. | sunflower oil, high-oleic sunflower oil |
| Safflower oil | 75% | Among the highest-PUFA oils of all. | safflower oil, high-oleic safflower oil |
| Cottonseed oil | 52% | A byproduct oil used in frying and shortening. | cottonseed oil, hydrogenated cottonseed oil |
| Grapeseed oil | 70% | Marketed as gourmet, but very high in PUFA. | grapeseed oil, grape seed oil |
| Rice bran oil | 37% | Refined and high in PUFA; common in Asian fast food. | rice bran oil |
Looking for the why rather than the what? What are seed oils covers where they came from, the health argument on both sides, and how to get them out of your week.
The full seed oils list
Every oil people ask us about, grouped by how it actually gets used. Where a cell says "not published" it means nobody publishes a fatty-acid breakdown we trust for that oil, so we leave the number out instead of guessing at it.
Frying and cooking oils
| Oil | PUFA share of fat | On an ingredient label |
|---|---|---|
| Canola oil (rapeseed oil)Still a seed oil when the label says expeller pressed, cold pressed, organic or non-GMO. | 28% | canola oil, rapeseed oil, low erucic acid rapeseed oil, non-GMO canola oil |
| Soybean oilThe biggest single source of fat in the American diet. | 58% | soybean oil, soya oil, soy oil, and most "vegetable oil" |
| Corn oilPressed from the germ, which is the seed part of the kernel. | 55% | corn oil, maize oil, corn germ oil |
| Sunflower oil (regular) | 65% | sunflower oil, sunflower seed oil, linoleic sunflower oil |
| Sunflower oil (high-oleic)Bred down to much less PUFA. Genuinely less of the problem fat, still a refined seed oil. | 10% | high-oleic sunflower oil, high oleic sunflower oil |
| Safflower oil (regular)The highest-PUFA oil anybody actually cooks in. | 75% | safflower oil, high-linoleic safflower oil |
| Safflower oil (high-oleic)The same seed bred the other way, which flips it from the worst oil here to one of the lowest. | 13% | high-oleic safflower oil |
| Cottonseed oilThe original industrial seed oil. Crisco started here in 1911. | 52% | cottonseed oil, hydrogenated cottonseed oil |
| Grapeseed oilSold as gourmet, priced as gourmet, chemically a seed oil. | 70% | grapeseed oil, grape seed oil |
| Rice bran oilCommon in Asian fast food and in high-heat commercial fryers. | 37% | rice bran oil, rice oil |
| Peanut oilBorderline. Peanuts are legumes, not seeds, but the oil is refined the same way. | 33% | peanut oil, groundnut oil, arachis oil |
| Mustard seed oilTraditional in South Asian cooking and much lower in PUFA than most. | 21% | mustard oil, mustard seed oil, sarson ka tel |
| Camelina oilSold as a cooking oil. Nobody publishes a breakdown we trust for it. | not published | camelina oil, camelina sativa seed oil, false flax oil, gold-of-pleasure oil |
Supplement and finishing oils
These are sold cold, by the teaspoon or the capsule, so almost nobody fries in them. They are still seed oils, and several of them are the highest-PUFA oils on this page.
| Oil | PUFA share of fat | On an ingredient label |
|---|---|---|
| Flaxseed oil (linseed oil)A seed oil by any definition, but a supplement rather than a frying oil. | 66% | flaxseed oil, linseed oil, flax oil |
| Hemp seed oilThe highest-PUFA oil on this page. Sold cold, never for heat. | 78% | hemp seed oil, hempseed oil, cannabis sativa seed oil |
| Chia seed oilSold as a supplement, same shelf as flax. No breakdown we trust for the pressed oil, so the cell stays empty. | not published | chia seed oil, salvia hispanica seed oil |
| Pumpkin seed oilThe dark green drizzling oil. Lower than flax or hemp, still a seed oil. | 43% | pumpkin seed oil, pepita oil, styrian pumpkin seed oil |
| Sesame oilBorderline. A seed oil by the definition, but traditional and used by the drizzle. | 42% | sesame oil, toasted sesame oil, sesame seed oil, gingelly oil |
| Walnut oilA nut oil, not a seed oil strictly, but the community usually treats nut oils as seed oils. | 63% | walnut oil, English walnut oil |
| Poppy seed oilRare in the US, common in central European baking. | 62% | poppy seed oil, poppyseed oil |
| Black seed oil (nigella)Sold as a supplement. No fatty-acid breakdown we trust, so the cell stays empty. | not published | black seed oil, nigella sativa oil, black cumin seed oil, kalonji oil |
| Perilla oilThe Korean finishing oil. No breakdown we trust for it either. | not published | perilla oil, perilla seed oil, deulgireum |
Nut oils like walnut are not seed oils by the strict definition, but they are refined the same way and run just as high in PUFA, so the seed-oil-free community usually treats them the same. See any two fats side by side on the oil vs oil pages.
Names seed oils hide behind on ingredient labels
A label almost never says "seed oil." These are the phrases that mean one anyway.
| What the label says | What it actually is |
|---|---|
| Vegetable oil | A label term, not a plant. In the US it is almost always soybean oil, canola oil, or a blend of the two. There are no vegetables in it. |
| Vegetable shortening | Seed oil firmed up into a solid fat, usually soybean or cottonseed. Most commercial baking runs on it, and it needs no fryer to add up. |
| Margarine | Seed oil emulsified and firmed up so it spreads like butter. Same oils, different form. |
| Contains one or more of the following: canola, soybean, cottonseed, sunflower oil | The maker is reserving the right to swap oils batch to batch on price, so read it as the highest-PUFA oil on the list. |
| Partially or fully hydrogenated oil | Seed oil stiffened by adding hydrogen. The partially hydrogenated version is where artificial trans fat came from and is now rare on US labels. Fully hydrogenated oil carries no trans fat but is still a seed oil. |
| Expeller pressed or cold pressed | A gentler way of squeezing the oil out of the seed. Worth a little, but the oil is still a seed oil and the PUFA share does not move. |
| Non-GMO canola or organic canola | Still canola, still a seed oil. Those words describe how the crop was farmed, not what the fat is made of. |
| Plant-based oil, cooking oil, frying oil | What a menu or a package says when the oil is a commodity soy or canola blend and nobody wants to name it. |
| Mono- and diglycerides | An emulsifier made from oil, usually soybean. Derived from a seed oil rather than being one, and the amount in a serving is tiny. |
| Soy lecithin or sunflower lecithin | Honest answer: this one is not an oil. It is an emulsifier from the same bean or seed, gram for gram it adds almost no PUFA, and most people tracking seed oils ignore it. |
Rule of thumb: if the fat named is not olive, avocado, coconut, palm, butter, ghee, tallow, or lard, treat it as a seed oil until the label proves otherwise.
Borderline cases, and the fats that are not seed oils
Two fats the community genuinely splits on, then the ones that are not seed oils at all. Same verdicts as our is it seed oil answers.
| Fat | Seed oil? | The short answer |
|---|---|---|
| Peanut oil | Borderline | Peanuts are legumes, not seeds, but it is refined the same way and runs about 33% PUFA. |
| Sesame oil | Borderline | Technically a seed oil at around 42% PUFA, but traditional and used by the drizzle, not the fryer. |
| Palm oil | No | Pressed from the fruit of the oil palm. About 10% PUFA and very heat-stable. |
| Olive oil | No | Pressed from a fruit. About 10% PUFA, mostly stable monounsaturated fat. |
| Avocado oil | No | Fruit oil, about 14% PUFA, high smoke point. |
| Coconut oil | No | About 2% PUFA, the most heat-stable common cooking fat. |
| Butter | No | Dairy fat, about 3% PUFA. |
| Ghee | No | Clarified butter: the same fat with the milk solids removed. |
| Beef tallow | No | Rendered beef fat, about 3% PUFA. What fast-food fries were cooked in before 1990. |
| Lard | No | Rendered pork fat, roughly 11% PUFA. |
More from here: what seed oils are and why people avoid them, every cooking fat ranked by PUFA, what to cook with instead, and which restaurants use which oil.