Sunflower oil warning: Why it should stay out of your frying pan

Do you know which oil to use for frying? Many people ponder over the choice of the appropriate fat, especially when faced with a store shelf filled with various oils.

Sunflower oil is one of the most popular oils used in the kitchen after canola oil. It is a staple ingredient in many dishes, used for frying and baking. Unfortunately, this is not a beneficial practice.

Sunflower oil (as well as soybean, corn, grape seed, pumpkin seed, sesame) contains a predominant amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which quickly oxidize under high temperatures. This means that during frying, the polyunsaturated fatty acids in sunflower oil break down into harmful substances, including those with potentially carcinogenic properties.

Moreover, scientists from De Montfort University and scholars from Oxford indicate that heated sunflower oil may release carcinogenic aldehyde. Therefore, it is better to use sunflower oil raw (e.g., in salads), and it is not recommended to fry with it.

For home frying, oils that contain many monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and a few polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are best. Examples of such oil are canola oil and olive oil. Monounsaturated fatty acids are more resistant to oxidation under high temperatures. And precisely because canola oil contains about 61% monounsaturated fatty acids and 29% polyunsaturated fatty acids, it is suitable for both short-term frying and for salads.

Most oils available in stores are sold in plastic bottles. These are usually refined oils, purified at high temperatures (over 160°C) and using chemicals. This means they have been stripped of impurities and important components. Refined oils can be used for frying because they have a higher smoke point. However, it is still better to fry with refined canola oil than with refined sunflower oil, as, as mentioned, sunflower oil still contains more polyunsaturated fatty acids, which have an unfavourable fatty acid profile for frying.

"Refining oil does not make it suitable for frying; it only raises its smoke point, which is beneficial for oils with a good fatty acid profile for frying — for example, canola oil or peanut oil," explains nutritionist Aleksandra Kureń on the centrumrespo.pl website.