If you're already reading labels to avoid artificial dyes, there's another ingredient category worth checking: seed oils. Like artificial dyes, seed oils are a product of industrial food processing — and they're in almost everything.

What Are Seed Oils?

Seed oils are vegetable oils extracted from plant seeds using chemical solvents, high heat, and deodorization. The most common are canola oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, and grapeseed oil. They were virtually nonexistent in the human diet before 1900.

For a deep dive into the history and science, read Origin Recipe's full guide to seed oils.

Which Seed Oils to Avoid

What to Use Instead

For specific brand recommendations, see Origin Recipe's trusted brands directory.

Seed Oil Free Brands

Many brands that avoid artificial dyes also avoid seed oils. Brands like Siete Foods, Simple Mills, and Hu Kitchen use clean fats AND skip synthetic dyes. Check the complete seed oil free grocery list for 100+ products organized by aisle.

Make It at Home

The easiest way to avoid both dyes and seed oils is to cook from scratch. Origin Recipe lets you scan any food label and generates a seed oil free homemade recipe with organic ingredients, step-by-step instructions, and a cost comparison.

The Connection to Dyes

Many of the same processed foods that contain seed oils also contain artificial dyes. A bag of Doritos has both corn oil AND Red 40. Gatorade contains both seed oil-derived ingredients AND Yellow 5. When you start reading labels for one, you'll notice the other.

That's why we built both DyeFreeCheck (for dyes) and Origin Recipe (for seed oils). Together, they cover the two biggest categories of processed food additives that health-conscious families want to avoid.