CHICAGO, March 30, 2026 — Resistance to the use of seed oil is finding traction among younger diners, with more than half of consumers aged 18 to 34 indicating they’re more likely to choose a restaurant that fries in beef tallow.
That’s according to a consumer survey conducted for Coast Packing, an oil supplier that stands to greatly benefit from a resurgence in the use of tallow.
Once demonized as a major health hazard, beef tallow is now being championed as an aid to well-being by several popular health authorities, including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and Casey Means, the White House nominee for surgeon general.
They contend the saturated fat is preferable for health reasons to oils derived from soy, corn, or sunflower seeds, the fryer media that many restaurants adopted in the 1990s amid widespread scientific reports of tallow’s detriments. The oils are also typically less expensive.
According to those critics, a catalyst used to extract oils from plant seeds is a known cause of tissue inflammation. The extraction chemical, hexane, is heavily regulated in Europe for that reason.
Scientists have disputed that contention. “You would think that seed oils are toxic and unhealthy for us,” Dr. Walt Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told an audience of food-away-from-home professionals. “Seed oils are good for us.”
Yet concerns about their alleged side effects have prompted public action. Starting Jan. 1, restaurants in Louisiana will be required by law to alert customers if seed oils are used in the kitchen.
The Sweetgreen salad bowl chain switched last year to a seed-oil-free menu, and the Steak ‘n Shake family dining chain drew public praise from Kennedy for replacing vegetable oil with a tallow blend in its fryers.
The Coast Packing study suggests the debate has caught the public’s attention. Based on a survey of 1,005 consumers, it concluded that 46% of the public now consider what oils are used by their dining-out options before deciding where to eat.
The report found that consideration to be particularly important to consumers aged 18 to 34. About 52% of the cohort said the type of oil used is a factor in their restaurant choices.
“Specifically, they’re asking about which cooking oils are used,” said Greg Hozinsky, Coast Packing’s corporate chef. “That’s a signal restaurants can’t afford to ignore.”
In contrast, 33% of the respondents aged 55 and older said they consider what medium a restaurant uses to fry items.
However, the data released by the company addresses only seed and beef-based fats. Not addressed is the third choice of a medium, or what the experts call fruit oils, such as the fats derived from avocados or olives.
Those options have generated far less controversy over the healthfulness of various oil options, but their price is often cited as a curb on use. A gallon of olive oil might cost more than $50 a quart, compared with a price of around $10 for seed oil.