Two US-based companies, Spotlight Foods and Algae Cooking Club, have announced the production of cooking oil from microalgae. The oil is produced through fermentation and has undergone independent lab testing by the Seed Oil Free Alliance to earn the Seed Oil Free Certified seal.
The new oil is high in monounsaturated fats and has been praised for its neutral taste and high smoke point. According to Dr. Andrew Weil, founder of the Andrew Weil University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, the oil is “delicious, extremely pure, and even higher in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats than olive oil.”
The companies claim that their algae oil has a lower environmental footprint than many seed oils and does not require blending with inferior ingredients. The production process involves feeding plant-based sugars from sugarcane to microalgae in large tanks, which are then converted into an edible oil in a matter of days.
The Seed Oil Free Alliance, a third-party certifying organization, has certified the products of both Spotlight Foods and Algae Cooking Club. The organization’s CEO, Jonathan Rubin, stated that the production of algae-derived cooking oils could revolutionize how we feed a growing world by reducing the environmental impact of traditional seed oil production.
The oil is already being used by restaurants and home cooks. Garden Butcher, a restaurant in Boca Raton, Florida, has become the first to bear the Seed Oil Free Certified seal and has made the switch to algae oil.
According to Kevin Ward, Sustainability Scientist at Spotlight Foods, “Plant-based sugars from sugarcane are fed to microalgae in large, stainless steel fermentation tanks. Similar to yeast fermenting sugar into alcohol, algae efficiently convert sugar into an edible oil in a matter of days. The result is a neutral-tasting cooking oil high in monounsaturated omega-9 fats and low in omega-6 fats, which recent research has shown to be inflammatory.”