Sweetgreen stops seed oils

Concerned about your intake of saturated fats? If you’re a Sweetgreen consumer, you might be reassured to know your salads will only contain extra-virgin olive oil from here on out.

Last week, the salad chain Sweetgreen announced that it will stop using seed oils, making it the first national fast-casual restaurant to cook exclusively with olive oil.

Following backlash from consumers about health concerns from cooking with seed oils, the chain decided to make the switch in stores nationwide.

On October 18th, it announced on twitter, “Today, we’re excited to share an exciting milestone—not just for Sweetgreen—but for our entire industry. Starting 10/24, all of our protein, veggies, and grains will be cooked in extra virgin olive oil—a commitment that’s *never* been made by a restaurant at our scale.”

Olive oil is a healthy fat that is important to maintaining a balanced diet. It is high in the monounsaturated fat Oleic acid, which has been shown to decrease inflammation in the body. Chronic inflammation is one of the drivers in diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s, arthritis and obesity.

However, seed oils are higher in inflammatory fats, like polyunsaturated fats, than oils like olive or avocado. Polyunsaturated fats contain higher levels of omega-6s that can trigger inflammation. Seed oil is also highly processed and calorically dense, but doesn’t provide the same nutrients as olive oil. An average tablespoon of vegetable oil is 120 calories and has 14 grams of fat with no protein or carbohydrates. Additionally, seed oils have made their way into the American diet because of how cheap they are compared to alternatives.

Sweetgreen has decided to partner with Bari Olive Oil Company, a sustainable company that produces and cultivates olive oil locally in California.

Additionally, Sweetgreen is also considering adding avocado oil as an additional cooking oil as the company continues to innovate its menu. Following the success of the summer speciality red wine vinaigrette dressing, which has an avocado oil base, Sweetgreen has added the dressing permanently to the menu.

“Reimagining fast food goes beyond the kitchen and starts with a strong, transparent supply chain. In addition to partnering with suppliers and growers we trust, we take into account how every ingredient is prepared, down to the oil it’s cooked in,” said Nicolas Jammet, Sweetgreen’s co-founder in a statement. “While we know there’s more work to do, we hope this change raises the bar and continues to inspire our industry to make quality products more accessible.”

This switch is in alignment with Sweetgreen’s commitment to local sourcing and providing consumers with local, high quality ingredients that are minimally processed.

However, seed oils are quite the opposite. Oils like canola, safflower, grapeseed and sunflower are highly processed oils that go through a process of chemical extraction and sometimes bleaching or deodorization.

Dr. Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist and tenured professor in the department of neurobiology, psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford School of Medicine, discussed a possible reasoning for obesity from the consumption of seed oils.

“In the last two decades and in particular in the last 10 years the consumption of seed oils has gone up dramatically, that is true, and that the caloric content of seed oils may in some ways, perhaps in many ways be contributing to the so called ‘obesity epidemic,’” Huberman said in his podcast the Huberman Lab.

Sweetgreen has taken a huge step in the dining industry and will influence how similar healthy fast-casual restaurants, like Cava and Chipotle, take action to provide cleaner ingredients for consumers. As more restaurants switch over from seed oils we may even see a decrease in obesity and other health conditions that come with it.

The Sweetgreen switch will be in effect starting tomorrow.