The State of Seed Oils in American Fast Food, 2026
First annual report. Every number below comes from the Seed Oil Tracker dataset: 632 major US chains, 46,504 menu items, each with an estimated PUFA (seed oil) value built from published nutrition data and disclosed cooking oils. Free to cite with attribution (CC BY 4.0). Methodology.
The headline numbers
- 80% of chains (504 of 632) average more than 4g of seed oil per menu item, the amount many in this community treat as a full day's budget.
- The average menu item across all 46,504 items carries an estimated 6.8g of seed oil.
- Of the 628 chains with cooking oil intel, 93% use at least one seed oil (soybean, canola, vegetable blend, sunflower, corn, or rice bran).
- Just 4 chains are verified fully seed oil free.
Grades across 632 chains
Grade A (under 4g avg)128
Grade B (4 to 6g)168
Grade C (6 to 8g)167
Grade D (8 to 12g)129
Grade F (over 12g)40
A grade reflects the chain's average estimated PUFA per menu item.
What America actually fries in
Chains mentioning each fat in their disclosed or researched cooking oils (a chain using a blend counts in each). Red bars are seed oils, green are not.
Soybean oil (seed oil)528
Canola oil (seed oil)251
Generic vegetable oil (seed oil)133
Butter112
Beef tallow or animal fat76
Olive oil52
Palm oil38
Peanut oil32
Sunflower oil (seed oil)22
Coconut oil22
Corn oil (seed oil)10
Avocado oil3
Sugarcane oil (Zero Acre)1
The 10 cleanest chains of 2026
- 1. Kung Fu Tea A 0.5g avg
- 2. Gong cha A 0.8g avg
- 3. sweetFrog A 0.9g avg
- 4. Yogurtland A 0.9g avg
- 5. Menchie's A 1.0g avg
- 6. Pinkberry A 1.0g avg
- 7. Red Mango A 1.0g avg
- 8. Bahama Buck's A 1.1g avg
- 9. 7 Brew Coffee A 1.2g avg
- 10. Jeremiah's Italian Ice A 1.4g avg
The 10 heaviest chains of 2026
- 1. Lou Malnati's F 21.0g avg
- 2. Uno Pizzeria & Grill F 20.0g avg
- 3. Jersey Mike's F 19.6g avg
- 4. Wingers F 18.8g avg
- 5. Roosters F 18.7g avg
- 6. Guthrie's F 18.7g avg
- 7. Jet's Pizza F 18.5g avg
- 8. Yard House F 18.0g avg
- 9. Wings Over F 17.5g avg
- 10. Twin Peaks F 17.3g avg
Cite this report
Seed Oil Tracker, "The State of Seed Oils in American Fast Food, 2026", seedoiltracker.com/state-of-seed-oils-2026. Data CC BY 4.0. The full dataset is a free download, and the live numbers are always at the Seed Oil Index.