Seed oils in the Bahamas

What the chains fry in

These are the 6 chains we track in the Bahamas, with what each one fries in according to our records. Open any chain for its full report card. See the full country index.

• Real fats: beef tallow, lard, butter, olive oil or coconut oil.
• In between: palm or peanut oil, a high-oleic grade, or a mix of real fat and seed oil.
• Seed oils: canola (rapeseed), soybean, sunflower or corn, or a "vegetable oil" blend.
• No fryer: the chain does not deep fry. It can still cook with oil elsewhere in the kitchen.
• Unknown: our records do not say what the chain fries in.

(estimated) means our note on that chain is hedged, so read the oil as a good guess rather than a confirmed fact. How we read these notes.

Cleanest picks

None of the 6 chains we track in the Bahamas names a real fat in its fryer, so here the best move is to ask. The phrases further down are written for that.

All 6 chains

Same chain, different oil

A chain can fry in one oil at home and another abroad. We can compare 5 chains with the U.S., and all 5 show a different fryer oil in the Bahamas. Rows where the color changes come first.

The brands that state their fryer oil in many countries are compared in Same chain, different country.

How people cook in the Bahamas

The Bahamas imports nearly 90 percent of its food, US suppliers dominate, and fats and oil products are among the top US food exports there, so much of the cooking oil and packaged food is likely US-made.

That suggests ordinary vegetable oil in the fryer (in the US this is usually soybean-based), but we found no Bahamian source that names the frying oil, so treat that as a likely guess, not a fact. The classic fried foods are cracked conch, conch fritters, fried grouper and fried plantain, sold in restaurants and at the food stands at Arawak Cay in Nassau.

Grouper is also served grilled or boiled (boiled fish), which skips the fryer.

Reading labels

The Food Safety and Quality Act (2016) requires English-language labels on all food packages sold in the Bahamas, and we found no Bahamian rule on how oils must be named.

Because US suppliers dominate imports, many labels will likely follow US rules (our inference): each oil must be named, but a blend can read 'vegetable oil' with the oils in brackets, sometimes after 'contains one or more of the following', so the label may not tell you which oil is actually inside.

Say it in English

English works here. The first two rows are ways to ask the kitchen. Below them are the oil names, with the local word where it differs from American English.

Language: English (Bahamian English; ordinary US phrasing works)

Oil names that are spelled the same as in American English are left out.

Tips for eating out in the Bahamas

• Ask what oil is in the fryer before ordering cracked conch or conch fritters. Conch salad (raw conch marinated in citrus juice) and grilled or boiled grouper skip the fryer, though kitchens vary.
• Most food is imported and US brands dominate, so read labels the way you would at home and watch for 'vegetable oil', 'soybean oil' and 'canola oil'. Labels must be in English.
• If your lodging has a kitchenette, cook with butter or olive oil from a supermarket; US brands dominate imports, so many products will look familiar.

Sources

The cooking, label and tip sections come from these pages. The chain fryer oils come from our own records.

1. Bahamas: Labeling and Marking Requirements (US Trade.gov Country Commercial Guide)
2. Bahamas: Agricultural Sectors (US Trade.gov Country Commercial Guide; food imports, US share, fast food channels)
3. Bahamian cuisine (Wikipedia, background only for fried dishes; names no frying oil)

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