What are seed oils? The complete list

The complete seed oil list: the 8 to avoid

1. Canola (rapeseed) oil. The most common restaurant oil. Cheap, heavily refined, very high in PUFA. On labels: canola oil, rapeseed oil, low erucic acid rapeseed.
2. Soybean oil. The number-one oil in the American diet, often hidden as "vegetable oil." On labels: soybean oil, vegetable oil, soya oil.
3. Corn oil. A refined, high-PUFA oil common in frying and processed food. On labels: corn oil, maize oil.
4. Sunflower oil. High in PUFA unless it is a "high-oleic" version, which is more stable. On labels: sunflower oil, high-oleic sunflower oil.
5. Safflower oil. Among the highest-PUFA oils of all. On labels: safflower oil, high-oleic safflower oil.
6. Cottonseed oil. A byproduct oil used in frying and shortening. On labels: cottonseed oil, hydrogenated cottonseed oil.
7. Grapeseed oil. Marketed as gourmet, but very high in PUFA. On labels: grapeseed oil, grape seed oil.
8. Rice bran oil. Refined and high in PUFA; common in Asian fast food. On labels: rice bran oil.

On a label, watch for "vegetable oil," which is usually soybean or canola, and any oil above that is not olive, avocado, coconut, butter, ghee, or tallow. Want the longer version? The seed oils list covers every seed oil people ask about, not just the 8, with the label names for each one.

Every cooking fat, ranked worst to best

PUFA as a share of total fat, USDA data. The higher the bar, the more seed oil load every tablespoon carries. Real fats at the bottom are what restaurants fried in for most of the last century.

Grams shown are per tablespoon of pure oil (13.6g of fat). See any two side by side on the oil vs oil pages.

Is it a seed oil? 22 common fats, answered

Fat	Seed oil?	The short answer
Canola oil	Yes	Refined from rapeseed. One of the two default fryer oils in America.
Soybean oil	Yes	The biggest seed oil in the US food supply, usually sold as "vegetable oil."
Vegetable oil	Yes	A label name, not a plant. Almost always soybean, canola, or a blend of both.
Corn oil	Yes	Pressed from the germ, the seed part of the corn kernel.
Sunflower oil	Yes	High PUFA unless the label says high-oleic.
Safflower oil	Yes	One of the highest-PUFA oils there is.
Cottonseed oil	Yes	The original industrial seed oil; Crisco started here in 1911.
Grapeseed oil	Yes	Gourmet reputation, seed-oil chemistry: about 70% PUFA.
Rice bran oil	Yes	Refined from the bran and germ of rice; high PUFA.
Flaxseed oil	Yes	A seed oil by any definition and near 70% PUFA, but sold as a supplement, never a frying oil.
Margarine	Yes	Seed oils processed to be solid at room temperature.
Shortening	Yes	Usually hydrogenated soybean or cottonseed oil. Most commercial baking uses it.
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.

How to spot seed oils on a label

Labels rarely say "seed oil." Here is what the same ingredient looks like in the wild:

1. "Vegetable oil." Almost always soybean, canola, or a blend of both. There are no vegetables in it.
2. "Shortening" or "margarine." Seed oils processed to be solid. Most commercial baking uses one of these.
3. "Plant-based oil blend" / "cooking oil." Restaurant menus use these when the fryer oil is a commodity soy or canola blend.
4. "High-oleic" sunflower, safflower, or canola. Bred to be lower in PUFA — genuinely less of the problem fat, but still a refined seed oil.
5. Soy lecithin. An emulsifier, not an oil. Gram for gram it adds almost no PUFA — most people tracking seed oils ignore it.

Rule of thumb: if the fat is not olive, avocado, coconut, palm, butter, ghee, tallow, or lard, treat it as a seed oil until proven otherwise.

Where seed oils actually hide (our data)

We maintain oil records for 558 US chains and PUFA estimates for about 57,000 US menu items. As of August 2026:

1. 536 of 558 chains with a verified oil record — 96% — cook with seed oils. Only 22 have no seed oil in their record at all, and just 9 of those cook exclusively in traditional fats like butter, tallow, or olive oil. Tallow Watch tracks the holdouts.
2. The fryer is the problem, not the protein. Across our dataset the median order of fries carries 10g of PUFA and the median fried-chicken item 11g, versus 7g for a burger, 5g for a salad, and 0g for a drink. The worst tenth of fries hit 16g or more — from the oil, not the potato.
3. Independent restaurants are usually worse than chains. The big food distributors that supply them fry America in soybean oil by default — see the distributor breakdown.
4. Baked goods are the quiet source. Nearly every commercial pastry, bun, and cookie is made with soybean-oil shortening. It does not need a fryer to add up.

Every number is an estimate, clearly labeled, and recomputed as chains change oils. Full methodology here; the whole dataset is a free download.

How seed oils took over

For most of history, cooking fat came from animals or fruit: tallow, lard, butter, olive oil. Seed oils are new. Cottonseed oil was a waste product of the cotton industry until Procter & Gamble turned it into Crisco in 1911. Soybean oil scaled after World War II as a byproduct of soy meal for livestock. Canola was engineered from rapeseed in 1970s Canada. The last domino fell in 1990, when US fast-food chains under pressure over saturated fat switched their fryers from beef tallow to vegetable oil — McDonald's fries included. Restaurants stay with seed oils for one reason: a jug of soybean oil costs a fraction of tallow or olive oil at fryer volumes.

Are seed oils actually bad for you?

Honest answer: it is contested, and both camps overstate their case. What is not in dispute: seed oil consumption rose from roughly zero to the single biggest source of fat in the American diet in about a century, the linoleic acid stored in our body fat has roughly doubled since the 1960s, and PUFA is the least heat-stable fat in the fryer — repeated frying produces oxidation products that stable fats do not. What is debated is how much that matters for long-term health, and mainstream nutrition bodies still consider these oils safe. Our position: we do not tell you what to eat, we show you the grams and let you decide your own ceiling. Read the studies on both sides, or sign the petition for fry-oil disclosure.

How to actually avoid them

1. At home: cook in butter, ghee, tallow, olive, avocado, or coconut oil. The swaps guide covers the pantry staples that usually hide seed oils (mayo, dressings, "vegetable oil" sprays).
2. Eating out: pick the chain first — the gap between an A-graded chain and an F-graded one is bigger than anything you can fix by ordering carefully. Then skip the fryer items. The full playbook is in our eating-out guide.
3. Check before you order: every chain has a report card — the grade, the frying oil, the safest orders, and the items to avoid, for the US plus Canada, the UK, and Australia.

Frequently asked

What are seed oils?

Seed oils are industrial cooking oils refined from seeds, very high in polyunsaturated fat (PUFA). Common ones include Canola, Soybean oil, Corn oil, Sunflower oil, Safflower oil, Cottonseed oil, Grapeseed oil, Rice bran oil.

What are the 8 seed oils to avoid?

Canola, Soybean oil, Corn oil, Sunflower oil, Safflower oil, Cottonseed oil, Grapeseed oil, Rice bran oil.

Is canola oil a seed oil?

Yes. Canola is refined from rapeseed and is one of the two most common seed oils in restaurant fryers, alongside soybean oil. High-oleic canola is lower in PUFA but still a refined seed oil.

Is olive oil a seed oil?

No. Olive, avocado, coconut, and palm oils are pressed from fruit, and butter, ghee, tallow, and lard are animal fats. None of them are seed oils.

Is peanut oil a seed oil?

Technically no, peanuts are legumes. But peanut oil is refined the same way and runs about 33% PUFA, roughly ten times beef tallow, so most people avoiding seed oils treat it as one.

Which oils are not seed oils?

Fruit oils (olive, avocado, coconut, palm) and animal fats (butter, ghee, beef tallow, lard). All of them are far lower in PUFA than seed oils and more stable when heated.

Why do people avoid seed oils?

Three reasons come up most: seed oils are very high in PUFA, the least heat-stable fat in a fryer; they went from almost zero to the biggest source of fat in the American diet in about a century; and the linoleic acid in them accumulates in body fat. How much this matters for long-term health is contested. We publish the grams and let you set your own ceiling.

Are seed oils banned anywhere?

No. No country has banned seed oils, and US restaurants are not required to disclose what they fry in. That is why this database exists, and why our petition asks for mandatory fry-oil disclosure.

What oil do most restaurants fry in?

Of 558 US chains with a verified oil record in the Seed Oil Tracker dataset, 96% cook with seed oils, most often soybean or canola. Only 22 chains have no seed oil in their record, and just 9 cook exclusively in traditional fats like butter, beef tallow, or olive oil.

What is "vegetable oil" made of?

Despite the name, commercial vegetable oil is almost always soybean oil, canola oil, or a blend of the two. There are no vegetables in it.

What should I cook with instead of seed oils?

Butter, ghee, beef tallow, olive oil, avocado oil, or coconut oil. All of them are under 15% PUFA, versus 28% to 75% for seed oils.