Cottonseed Oil

What this is

The main safety distinction is refined versus crude cottonseed oil. Cottonseed naturally contains gossypol and cyclopropenoid fatty acids; FDA notes that cottonseed oil is highly refined to remove these naturally occurring toxicants, and Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety says gossypol is removed during refining and that normally sold refined cottonseed oil is virtually free of gossypol. EFSA similarly reported no detectable total or free gossypol in refined cottonseed oil in a reviewed cottonseed-oil assessment, and no protein or DNA detected in refined oil from the assessed conventional and GM cottonseed sources. U.S. labeling rules require individual fat and oil ingredients to be declared by their specific common or usual name, such as “cottonseed oil,” and to identify hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated forms when applicable. Partially hydrogenated oils are a separate trans-fat policy issue: FDA’s 2023 final action revoked PHO uses in foods, but that does not mean ordinary unhydrogenated refined cottonseed oil is banned.

Safety Review

The health areas reviewed when evaluating an ingredient. This does not mean the ingredient is proven to cause harm.

The key user note is the refined-versus-crude distinction. Cottonseed naturally contains gossypol and cyclopropenoid fatty acids with reproductive-toxicity relevance, but reviewed sources state refining removes them and refined oil is generally virtually free of gossypol; FDA's partial-hydrogenated-oil revocation is about industrial trans fat, not ordinary refined cottonseed oil.