Compare beef tallow

Research · Beef tallow

What our research found about beef tallow

Beef tallow is rendered beef fat. It is mostly saturated and monounsaturated fat, stays solid at room temperature and holds up to high-heat cooking. Pure tallow should list one ingredient, beef fat, but some products are blends with other oils or add flavors, so the label matters more than the product name. Grass-fed and pasture-raised claims describe how the cattle were raised; they are separate from the ingredient list and are only as strong as the producer’s documentation or third-party certification.

Tallow is a saturated fat, and the Dietary Guidelines and the American Heart Association advise keeping saturated fat to a modest share of calories, so it is best treated as a flavorful cooking fat rather than a health food. Compare products on ingredients, source claims, package format (jar, spray, bulk) and price per ounce.

Products

2013 brands

Full labels recorded

1575% of the shelf

Maker says organic

1maker’s claim

List an added sweetener

0of 15 labels

List a seed oil

1of 15 labels

Typical label length

1ingredients (median)

Counts use complete, current ingredient labels only. Records without a published label stay unknown and are never counted as clean.

What to compare

• One ingredient. Beef tallow only; watch for blends, flavored versions and added oils.
• Source claims. Grass-fed or pasture-raised claims should come with a producer or certifier source.
• Format. Jars, sprays and bulk tubs differ in price per ounce and added ingredients.
• Saturated fat. Plan it as a cooking fat within your overall saturated-fat intake.

References

1. Saturated fats American Heart Association
2. Dietary Guidelines for Americans U.S. Department of Agriculture and HHS
3. Types of fat Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
4. AGA grass-fed standards American Grassfed Association