How It's Made
Safflower Oil is produced from a plant called a safflower, which is dry, thistle-like, thorny plant with a few bright flowers at the ends. Within the flowers are the safflower seeds. These seeds are a special type which have a high level of oleic acid (also known as the good-for-you monounsaturated fats).
To begin, the safflowers are harvested and the seeds are removed. The seeds are expeller pressed using a physical press that squeezes the oil out of the seed. This process is a healthier alternative to most conventional safflower extraction, which is typically a solvent-expelled process that uses harsh chemical solvents like hexane to draw the oil out of the seed.
After the oil is expelled pressed, it goes through a refining, bleaching and deodorizing process, which you can learn more about here. Then the oil is ready for use!
Our safflower oil is naturally non-GMO and is verified by The Non-GMO Project™.
What It's Used For
Safflower Oil, High Oleic Expeller Pressed is a multi-purpose oil that is light in color and has a mild taste. This makes it ideal for use in baking, sautéing and home cooking. Because of its light flavor, it can be used in both savory and sweet foods.
High Oleic Safflower Oil is especially great for frying: because of the high level of monounsaturated fats, it has a much longer fry life than soybean or canola fry oil. You can also save a lot of money by frying with a high oleic oil, because it allows you to use each batch for longer and buy much less oil over time. These high oleic properties also help it to hold up well in high temperatures, and have a longer shelf life.
It's also used as a bulk non-GMO oil ingredient by food manufacturers, sauce makers, industrial bakeries and other businesses.