Seed oils list: all 20 seed oils and their US label names

A seed oils list starts with the eight industrial seed oils in US packaged food: canola (rapeseed), soybean, corn, cottonseed, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed and rice bran. Add sesame, peanut and about ten specialty oils such as flaxseed and hemp seed, and you have all 20 seed oils you're likely to meet. Anything labeled "vegetable oil" is usually one of them. Olive, avocado and coconut oil are not seed oils, because they come from fruit, not seeds.

Key takeaways

• The 8 industrial seed oils are canola, soybean, corn, cottonseed, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed and rice bran.
• Yes, canola oil and soybean oil are seed oils. Olive, avocado and coconut oil are not.
• "Vegetable oil" on a US label almost always means soybean, canola, corn or a blend.
• US rules let labels say "and/or" between oils, so the exact seed can change between batches.
• "Seed oil" isn't an FDA category, so the list is a shopping tool, not a safety verdict.

What are seed oils?

Seed oils are edible oils pressed or extracted from plant seeds rather than from fruit, nuts, animals or milk. "Seed oil" is a consumer term, not a legal FDA category, so you won't find it on a label.

Most commodity seed oils are made at scale. They're pressed, often extracted with a solvent, then refined, bleached and deodorized. That process makes them neutral in taste, shelf stable and cheap, which is why they fill so much packaged food.

Nutritionally, most seed oils are rich in polyunsaturated fat, mainly the omega-6 fatty acid linoleic acid. A few, like canola and high-oleic sunflower, are mostly monounsaturated. Some also supply plant omega-3 (ALA), as the NIH fact sheet on omega-3 fatty acids explains.

The complete seed oils list: all 20 seed oils

Here are all the seed oils you're likely to see in the US, with the names they use on ingredient labels. The first eight are the "industrial seed oils" most people mean when they talk about avoiding seed oils.

The 8 industrial seed oils

The industrial seed oils list covers the first eight rows. They're cheap, neutral and made in huge volumes, so they show up in almost every aisle. They're also the oils behind most "seed oil free" claims on packages.

Corn oil comes from the germ of the corn kernel, which is the seed. Grapeseed oil is a byproduct of winemaking, even though it's often sold as a premium oil.

Culinary and specialty seed oils

Rows 9 to 20 are less processed on average and used in smaller amounts. Sesame oil is the one you'll meet most often. It's a seed oil, but toasted sesame is used by the teaspoon for flavor, so its role in your diet is small. Our guide on whether sesame oil is healthy goes deeper.

Is it a seed oil? Quick answers for common oils

These are the oils people ask about most. The answer depends on which part of the plant the oil comes from.

Is soybean oil a seed oil?

Yes. Soybean oil, often shortened to soy oil, is pressed from soybeans, and it's the oil most likely to hide behind "vegetable oil" in the US. You'll find it in mayo, dressings, bread and many frozen meals.

Is canola oil a seed oil?

Yes. Canola is a type of rapeseed oil. Under 21 CFR 184.1555, FDA describes low erucic acid rapeseed oil as fully refined, bleached and deodorized, "also known as canola oil." It can contain no more than 2 percent erucic acid, per the same rule. US labels say canola, and European labels usually say rapeseed.

Is pecan oil a seed oil?

Pecan oil is usually grouped with tree nut oils, like walnut and almond, not with seed oils. The same goes for macadamia, hazelnut and pistachio oil.

Oils that are not seed oils

If you want to cook without seed oils, these are the usual swaps:

• Olive oil, including extra virgin and olive pomace oil
• Avocado oil, pressed from the fruit pulp
• Coconut oil, from the flesh of the coconut
• Palm oil, from the fruit of the oil palm
• Animal fats such as butter, ghee, beef tallow, lard and duck fat
• Tree nut oils like almond, walnut and macadamia

Not being a seed oil doesn't make an oil better by default. Palm oil raises sustainability and saturated fat questions. An "olive oil blend" or "avocado oil dressing" can also contain canola, so read the ingredient list, not the front label.

Seed oil names hiding on US ingredient labels

Some label terms don't name the seed at all. These are the ones to watch:

• Vegetable oil. In the US this is usually soybean, canola, corn or a blend.
• "Soybean and/or canola oil." Hedge wording that lets a maker switch oils.
• Vegetable shortening. Often a mix of palm with soybean or cottonseed oil.
• Interesterified or fully hydrogenated soybean oil. Restructured fats used in place of trans fats.
• High-oleic vegetable oil. Often sunflower, safflower or canola.

The hedge wording is legal. Under 21 CFR 101.4, a label can use "and/or" or "contains one or more of the following" for fats and oils. FDA's own example is "vegetable oil shortening (contains one or more of the following: cottonseed oil, palm oil, soybean oil)."

A few additives come from the same oils without being oils themselves. Soy lecithin and mono- and diglycerides can be made from soybean or other seed oils. Our guide to emulsifiers in food covers what they do.

Seed oil brands and products: where they show up

Bottled oil brands like Wesson, Mazola and Crisco sell several oils under one name. The brand on the front tells you less than the oil named on the back.

In packaged food, the patterns repeat across stores:

• Salad dressings and mayo: soybean or canola is often the first ingredient.
• Chips and crackers: sunflower, safflower, corn or cottonseed oil, often as a blend.
• Breads and buns: soybean oil plus dough conditioners. The same logic applies when you compare loaves in our healthiest bread at Walmart guide.
• Bars, granola and cereal: canola, sunflower or "vegetable oil."
• Frozen meals and rotisserie chicken: soybean oil in sauces and marinades.

For a longer aisle-by-aisle breakdown, see our list of foods with seed oils. If you're shopping for swaps, our picks of seed oil free snacks are a good place to start.

How to read a label for seed oils

US rules require ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight, so position tells you roughly how much oil is inside. Three habits make it quick:

1. Scan the first five ingredients. That's where most of the product lives.
2. Treat vague wording as unknown. "Vegetable oil" doesn't tell you the seed.
3. Look for "and/or." It means the oil can change between batches.

Keep it in proportion. The oil line is one signal, and the overall degree of processing usually tells you more. That's what the NOVA food classification is built to capture.

Are seed oils bad for you?

The science is more nuanced than social media suggests. A 2017 American Heart Association advisory on dietary fats concluded that replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated vegetable oils lowers cardiovascular risk. The FDA's guide to fat on the Nutrition Facts label also encourages choosing unsaturated fats over saturated ones.

The practical reason many shoppers cut back is different. Refined seed oils are a marker of heavily processed food, and cutting them tends to cut ultra-processed snacks along the way. A middle path works for most people: cook with fats you enjoy, and spend your attention on processed packaged food rather than one ingredient.

Frequently asked questions

What are all the seed oils?

The full list has about 20 seed oils. The eight industrial ones are canola, soybean, corn, cottonseed, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed and rice bran. The rest include sesame, peanut, mustard, flaxseed, hemp, pumpkin, chia, black seed, camelina, poppy, niger and watermelon seed oil.

What is the industrial seed oils list?

It's the eight oils made in the largest volumes for packaged and fried food: canola, soybean, corn, cottonseed, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed and rice bran. They're usually fully refined, bleached and deodorized.

Is peanut oil considered a seed oil?

Yes, in everyday use. Peanuts are legume seeds, not tree nuts, so peanut oil is usually grouped with seed oils.

Is "vegetable oil" always a seed oil?

Almost always in the US. It usually means soybean, canola, corn or a blend. When a product uses palm or coconut oil, the label usually names it.

Should I throw out everything with seed oils?

No. Cutting back on heavily processed packaged food overall lowers refined oil intake without turning shopping into a project. If you'd rather skip reading labels in the aisle, Osana can scan a barcode and show a product's oils and additives in seconds.