Choosing the right cooking oil for your family, especially for children, is vital in ensuring healthy meals that support growth and development. With so many oils available, it’s important to consider not only the flavor but also the nutritional benefits each oil provides. Some oils are better for heart health, while others are rich in essential nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids that are crucial for a child’s brain development. This guide, is a quick guide with insights on how different cooking oils are made, helping you choose the perfect one for your kitchen!

Olive oil

• Olive oil is generally classified into 3 categories: extra virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil, and pure olive oil.
• Extra virgin olive oil is the least processed form of olive oil. Due to this, it retains its natural antioxidants and vitamins, which are often lost during processing. Most of the modifiers that go before olive oil, such as “virgin” or “extra virgin,” refer to the process that manufacturers use to produce the oil.
• Extra virgin olive oils have undergone the least processing. The term “light” refers to the flavor of the oil, rather than the calorie content. Light oils are often processed and refined, which strips down the color as well as the flavor.
• Pure olive oil is a blend of extra virgin olive oil and processed olive oils. When the manufacturer processes the oil, they clean it with chemicals and then heat it. Processing makes the oil last longer, and it also makes it possible to heat the oil to a higher temperature, which is good for cooking. However, it adds chemicals and takes out nutrients.

Avocado Oil

• Generally, avocado oil extraction can be classified into 3 methods: solvents, aqueous and centrifugation, and cold pressing
• Cold pressing is used for culinary avocado oil, though it yields less oil.
• For cooking, unrefined avocado oil is bottled to keep its natural green color, taste, flavor, and aroma.
• Solvent extraction and aqueous & centrifugation methods are commonly used to extract avocado oil for non-culinary purposes, like cosmetics, skincare, and processed foods. These methods focus on efficiency rather than preserving natural flavors or nutrients.

Coconut Oil

• Coconut oil is generally classified into 2 categories: refined coconut oil and virgin coconut oil. Crude coconut oil is extracted into coconut oil with various methods.
• The commonly used methods are cold extraction and hot extraction. Then the crude oil is refined to remove impurities
• Certain coconut oil goes through a deodorized process to remove the coconut smell. Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) is extracted from fresh coconut milk obtained from matured coconut without heat application.

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Palm Oil

• Palm oil is generally classified into 2 categories: refined palm oil and red palm oil. Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil that comes from the fruit of oil palm trees. Fresh palm fruits are pressed to produce crude palm oil after the sterilizing and threshing process.
• The crude oil is further treated to purify and deodorized to produce palm cooking oil. However, the refinery process causes minor compounds, such as carotene, to­copherol, and tocotrienol, to be degraded and lost Therefore, this is refined palm oil in a bright yellow color (Purnama et al., 2020).
• Red palm oil (RPO) can be pro­duced from unrefined palm oil or crude palm oil (CPO) using a refinery process in­cluding degumming, neutralization, and deodorization at low temperatures. In Southeast Asia, red palm oil is always being produced by treating crude palm oil. but retain much higher levels of carotenoids and vitamins than refined palm oil (Purnama et al., 2020).

Palm oil

So, what are the best oils to cook with?

In general, olive oil and avocado oil are rich in monounsaturated fat which are heart-friendly oils. Coconut oil and palm oil contain high saturated fatty acids which may increase the risk of heart disease (heart foundation). However, it is also important to consider the smoke point, flavor, and price of oils. Which healthier cooking oil tolerates high-heat cooking to avoid the oils breaking down at high temperate?  For example, avocado oil (271 ◦C) has a high smoke point compared to olive oil (176◦), you may choose avocado oil for deep frying instead of olive oil.

Meanwhile, tropical oils which are coconut oil (177◦C) and palm oil (235◦C) also have high smoke points. Should we use coconut oil or palm oil for deep frying? There is no harm to coconut and palm oils in cooking but tropical oils should be used moderately. Although tropical oils have several health benefits, prolonged consumption of tropical oils may inhibit vitamin E growth (Hormenu et al., 2024).