Seed oils in Ireland
Of the 38 chains we track in Ireland, none use real fats in the fryer and 20 use seed oils. That leaves 18 with something in between, no fryer or no answer. Below: what they fry in, how people cook there, how to read a label and what to say to ask about the oil.
What the chains fry in
These are the 38 chains we track in Ireland, 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
No chain we track in Ireland fries in real fats alone. These come closest: they mix real fats with other oils, or fry in palm or peanut oil.
- Burger King Palm oil (estimated)
- Domino's Soybean and palm oil
- Krispy Kreme Palm oil and vegetable oil blend
- Papa John's Palm oil (estimated)
- Supermac's Vegetable oil blend and palm oil
All 38 chains
| Chain | Fryer oil |
|---|---|
| Abrakebabra | Vegetable oil blend (estimated) |
| Apache Pizza | Vegetable oil blend and soybean oil |
| Bagel Factory | No fryer |
| Boojum | Rapeseed and canola oil (estimated) |
| Bunsen | Soybean oil |
| Burger King | Palm oil (estimated) |
| Butlers Chocolate Cafe | No fryer |
| Caffe Nero | No fryer |
| Camile Thai | Vegetable oil blend (estimated) |
| Centra | No fryer |
| Chopped | No fryer |
| Circle K | No fryer |
| Costa Coffee | No fryer |
| Domino's | Soybean and palm oil |
| Eddie Rocket's | Rapeseed and sunflower oil (estimated) |
| Eskimo Pizza | Vegetable oil blend and rapeseed oil (estimated) |
| Five Guys | Vegetable oil blend |
| Four Star Pizza | Rapeseed oil (estimated) |
| Insomnia Coffee | No fryer |
| JD Wetherspoon | Sunflower oil and vegetable oil blend (estimated) |
| Jump Juice | No fryer |
| KFC | Vegetable oil blend and sunflower oil (estimated) |
| Krispy Kreme | Palm oil and vegetable oil blend |
| McDonald's | Sunflower and rapeseed oil |
| Milano | Rapeseed oil (estimated) |
| Mizzoni's | Vegetable oil blend and rapeseed oil (estimated) |
| Musashi Noodles & Sushi | Vegetable oil blend and rapeseed oil (estimated) |
| Nando's | Rapeseed and sunflower oil (estimated) |
| O'Briens Irish Sandwich Bar | No fryer |
| Papa John's | Palm oil (estimated) |
| Pizza Hut | Rapeseed oil |
| Pizza Max | Soybean oil and vegetable oil blend |
| Pret a Manger | No fryer |
| Starbucks | No fryer |
| Subway | Vegetable oil blend (estimated) |
| Supermac's | Vegetable oil blend and palm oil |
| Taco Bell | Vegetable oil blend (estimated) |
| Zambrero | No fryer |
Same chain, different oil
A chain can fry in one oil at home and another abroad. Of the 9 chains we can compare with the U.S., 8 show a different fryer oil in Ireland. Rows where the color changes come first. 1 more chain lists the same oil in both places.
| Chain | In the U.S. | In Ireland |
|---|---|---|
| Burger King | Vegetable oil blend and soybean oil | Palm oil (estimated) |
| Domino's | Soybean and canola oil | Soybean and palm oil |
| Five Guys | Peanut oil | Vegetable oil blend |
| Papa John's | Soybean oil | Palm oil (estimated) |
| KFC | Canola and soybean oil | Vegetable oil blend and sunflower oil (estimated) |
| McDonald's | Canola and soybean oil | Sunflower and rapeseed oil |
| Pizza Hut | Soybean oil and vegetable oil blend | Rapeseed oil |
| Taco Bell | Canola oil | Vegetable oil blend (estimated) |
The brands that state their fryer oil in many countries are compared in Same chain, different country.
How people cook in Ireland
Butter is a staple of Irish cooking, and home cooks also use vegetable oils such as rapeseed and sunflower. Chip shops (chippers) traditionally fried in beef dripping or lard.
The sources we found say vegetable oils such as palm, rapeseed or peanut now dominate, and an Irish Examiner food column says cheap seed oils are a chip shop favourite because they cost much less than olive oil. The same column names a few higher-end places that prefer beef tallow, such as the Hawksmoor steakhouse in Dublin.
We found no national survey and no Irish statements from chains, delis or takeaways, so assume vegetable oil unless the shop tells you otherwise.
Reading labels
Packaged food in Ireland follows EU Regulation 1169/2011. Refined vegetable oils can be grouped as 'vegetable oils' only if the plants are listed right after, for example 'vegetable oils (palm, rapeseed)', and a hydrogenated oil must say 'fully hydrogenated' or 'partly hydrogenated'.
These rules cover packaged food, so restaurant and takeaway menus generally do not have to name the frying oil.
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.
| You want to say | Say it like this |
|---|---|
| Ask the kitchen | |
| What oil do you fry with? | What oil or fat do you fry in? |
| Can you cook it in butter or olive oil? | Could you cook it in butter or olive oil instead? |
| Seed oils to watch for | |
| Canola oil | rapeseed oil (called canola oil in the US) |
| Soybean oil | soya oil (soybean oil in the US) |
| Vegetable oil (often a seed oil blend) | vegetable oil |
| Fats to ask for | |
| Beef tallow | beef dripping or beef tallow |
Oil names that are spelled the same as in American English are left out.
Tips for eating out in Ireland
- At a chipper, ask what they fry in. The sources we found say most use vegetable oil, but it changes from shop to shop, and a few places use beef dripping or tallow.
- For a fry-up (full Irish breakfast), ask for the rashers grilled and the eggs poached, or ask if they can cook them in butter instead of the pan oil.
- Hot-counter food at delis and petrol stations (breaded chicken fillets, wedges, chips) is often fried, and no source we found names the oil. Ask staff, or pick something that is not fried, such as roast meat or a plain sandwich with butter.
- In shops, read the ingredient list for 'vegetable oils (...)'. The plants must be named, so you can spot rapeseed, sunflower, soya or palm. Butter is easy to find in any Irish shop, so if you self-cater, cooking with butter is a simple swap.
Use the app on your trip
Seed Oil Tracker has local menus for 38 chains in Ireland. Switch your country in Settings before you go.
Download for iPhone Get it on Google Play
Free to download. Want the full tour first? See what the app does.
Sources
The cooking, label and tip sections come from these pages. The chain fryer oils come from our own records.
- Darina Allen: The secret to perfect homemade chips (Irish Examiner). Seed oils are cheaper so chip shops favour them; some places use beef tallow
- Fish and chip shop (Wikipedia). Traditional dripping or lard, vegetable oils now predominate (UK centred, one claim tagged citation needed)
- Irish cuisine (Wikipedia). Butter and dairy, the chipper
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex VII (wording checked on the UK legislation.gov.uk copy of the EU text)
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, official text on EUR-Lex (page would not load for us)
More countries
Menus, recipes and rules change, so treat this page as a starting point and check the label or ask in the moment. Need a refresher on what counts? See what seed oils are and the full list. Back home, the eating out playbook covers restaurants in the U.S.