# Where does vegetable oil come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 6, 2006, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-vegetable-oil-come-from/371627 "2006-09-06T13:27:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-vegetable-oil-come-from/371627/1 "2006-09-06T13:27:46Z")
I found [this](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mvegoil.html) staff report, but it doesn’t really answer the question. What plants do they get your garden variety (no pun intended) vegetable oil that you can buy for a couple bucks a gallon at the grocery store from? How is it extracted? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-vegetable-oil-come-from/371627/2 "2006-09-06T13:32:25Z")
There are a variety of foods used that vegetable oil is extracted from and a few means to perform the extraction. Here is a link that details it all pretty well (scroll down a bit to get to the parts you want): [http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel\_library/pressextract.html](http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/pressextract.html) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-vegetable-oil-come-from/371627/3 "2006-09-06T13:35:16Z")
You can press the seeds, or extract them with solvents. [Build your own sunflower press](http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/oilpress.html) > [@](#): > > IN 2,500 SQUARE FEET, a family of four can grow each year enough sunflower seed to produce three gallons of homemade vegetable oil suitable for salads or cooking and 20 pounds of nutritious, dehulled seed – with enough broken seeds left over to feed a winter’s worth of birds. [Small scale commercial oilseed processing](http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/oilseed.html#basic) > [@](#): > > Oil can be extracted mechanically with an oil press, an expeller, or even with a wooden mortar and pestle—a traditional method that originated in India. Presses range from small, hand-driven models that an individual can build to power-driven commercial presses. Expellers have a rotating screw inside a horizontal cylinder that is capped at one end. The screw forces the seeds or nuts through the cylinder, gradually increasing the pressure. The material is heated by friction and/or electric heaters. The oil escapes from the cylinder through small holes or slots, and the press cake emerges from the end of the cylinder, once the cap is removed. Both the pressure and temperature can be adjusted for different kinds of feedstock. The ram press uses a piston inside a cage to crush the seed and force out the oil. > > Oils can also be extracted with solvents, but solvent extraction is a complex operation… ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-vegetable-oil-come-from/371627/4 "2006-09-06T18:41:05Z")
[QUOTE=Renee] I found [this](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mvegoil.html) staff report, but it doesn’t really answer the question. What plants do they get your garden variety (no pun intended) vegetable oil that you can buy for a couple bucks a gallon at the grocery store from? How is it extracted? [/QUOTE] - :dubious: Imagines various cartoon vegetables sitting on toilets :eek: \* ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-vegetable-oil-come-from/371627/5 "2006-09-06T19:12:17Z")
I was watching a TV series called _Equator_ the other day, which is a documentary about the nations that lie on the equator. This particular programme was about Indonesia, and mentioned that one of the biggest threats to the rainforest there is clearance for palm oil plantations. The statistic was mentioned that palm oil is present in 10% of all American food products. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_oil) says that palm oil may now be the most widely produced vegetable oil in the world, surpassing soybean oil. [Here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetable_oil#Particular_oils), also from Wikipedia, is a table showing the main vegetable oil sources. Basically, you’re looking at soybeans, palm (both fruit and kernel), rapeseed, sunflower seed, peanut and cottonseed. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-vegetable-oil-come-from/371627/6 "2006-09-06T19:26:00Z")
So, when you buy “Vegetable oil” is it always the same mix of oils, or just whatever’s on hand at the time? Does anyone know why it’s so cheap? Vegetables aren’t cheap, and it seems like a pretty large amount of whatever vegetable you’re using must go into a bottle of oil. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-vegetable-oil-come-from/371627/7 "2006-09-06T19:30:22Z")
It depends on what brand you buy. The super-cheap generic oil varies depending on global prices. Whatever is cheapest makes up the bulk of the oil. Vegetable oil means it is derived from plants, not that it is made from vegetables you would serve for dinner. Soy, palm, canola oils are all “vegetable” oils. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-vegetable-oil-come-from/371627/8 "2006-09-06T19:37:13Z")
[QUOTE=Renee] So, when you buy “Vegetable oil” is it always the same mix of oils, or just whatever’s on hand at the time? Does anyone know why it’s so cheap? Vegetables aren’t cheap, and it seems like a pretty large amount of whatever vegetable you’re using must go into a bottle of oil. [/QUOTE] From the “Ask Dr. Sears” site: “contains soy and/or palm kernel oil” or “contains partially hydrogenated and/or…” or “contains corn and/or cottonseed oil.” And/or labeling gives the manufacturer leeway to substitute cheaper, often less nutritious, and even unhealthy oils without changing the printing on the label. Since the price of different oil fluctuates, this allows the manufacturer to put the cheapest oils in the food. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-vegetable-oil-come-from/371627/9 "2006-09-06T20:06:23Z")
I forget the exact figures, but the TV programme I mentioned above did point out just how cheap vegetable oil is - i.e. it takes x pounds of palm fruit to make a gallon of oil, which sells for really not very much. Hence the enormous palm plantations, and also, presumably, the vast soybean plantations which are replacing much of the South American rainforest. Who says biodiesel is a green option? ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-vegetable-oil-come-from/371627/10 "2006-09-06T20:11:33Z")
Vegetable oil is usually a combination of soy along with other types of oils from commonly grown plants in North America. You can buy Corn oil or Peanut oil or Canola oil where there is nothing else added. As I was raised where Canola is black gold (the seeds are black), canola is pretty much the only vegetable oil I buy for general purpose use. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-vegetable-oil-come-from/371627/11 "2006-09-06T21:16:19Z")
Stupid question, but is cottonseed oil a byproduct of the cotton industry? Is it even the same plant, or is there some variety of cotton that is grown for the oil seeds, not the fibres? Or is ‘cottonseed’ some other plant from actual cotton entirely? ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-vegetable-oil-come-from/371627/12 "2006-09-06T23:51:12Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Stupid question, but is cottonseed oil a byproduct of the cotton industry? Is it even the same plant, or is there some variety of cotton that is grown for the oil seeds, not the fibres? Or is ‘cottonseed’ some other plant from actual cotton entirely? [/QUOTE] > **[Cottonseed oil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottonseed_oil)** > > Cottonseed oil is cooking oil from the seeds of cotton plants of various species, mainly Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium herbaceum, that are grown for cotton fiber, animal feed, and oil. Cotton seed has a similar structure to other oilseeds, such as sunflower seed, having an oil-bearing kernel surrounded by a hard outer hull; in processing, the oil is extracted from the kernel. Cottonseed oil is used for salad oil, mayonnaise, salad dressing, and similar products because of its flavor stability.... _Cottonseed oil is a vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of the cotton plant after the cotton lint has been removed._ ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-vegetable-oil-come-from/371627/13 "2006-09-07T01:48:23Z")
[QUOTE=Doug Bowe] > **[Cottonseed oil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottonseed_oil)** > > Cottonseed oil is cooking oil from the seeds of cotton plants of various species, mainly Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium herbaceum, that are grown for cotton fiber, animal feed, and oil. Cotton seed has a similar structure to other oilseeds, such as sunflower seed, having an oil-bearing kernel surrounded by a hard outer hull; in processing, the oil is extracted from the kernel. Cottonseed oil is used for salad oil, mayonnaise, salad dressing, and similar products because of its flavor stability.... _Cottonseed oil is a vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of the cotton plant after the cotton lint has been removed._ [/QUOTE] I saw that as well, but it doesn’t say if it’s a different variety. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-vegetable-oil-come-from/371627/14 "2006-09-07T02:55:48Z")
[QUOTE=Renee] Does anyone know why it’s so cheap? Vegetables aren’t cheap, and it seems like a pretty large amount of whatever vegetable you’re using must go into a bottle of oil. [/QUOTE] Vegetables ARE cheap! They’re probably the 2nd cheapest food group (the starches: rice, potatoes, pasta) are probably the cheapest.) One of the reasons they are cheap is that the pulp of the vegetables that is left over after the oil is extracted can be sold for animal feed.