The TikTok Beef Tallow Trend is Bad for the Planet – Why Are We Putting This On Our Food & Faces?

Beef tallow is on a resurgent streak, thanks to the anti-seed oil brigade and a trending skincare routine on TikTok. But have we forgotten about the planet?

If, like me, you grew up outside America and loved going to McDonald’s as a kid, the fries were probably why. There is something about those skinny, sometimes limp, always-perfectly-golden pieces of potato that always leaves you wanting more.

However, I couldn’t – and still can’t – eat these famed fries in their home country. This is because I have been a vegetarian since birth and for decades, McDonald’s in the US cooked its fries in beef tallow, a rendered beef fat.

At the turn of the century, McDonald’s was actually sued by customers and ordered to pay out $10M for misleading them about the use of tallow.

Even though it later switched to vegetable oil, to this day it uses a small amount of ‘beef flavouring‘ – no one really knows what this contains – when pre-frying its potatoes at its factories.

The fast-food giant says this ensures “the great-tasting and recognisable flavour” of its “world-famous fries”.

From seed oils everywhere to seed-oil-free

In the years since vegetable oils have dominated the food landscape. In 2022, US imports of these oils reached nearly $11B, and in the last 20 years, the production of vegetable oils has doubled globally.

Then came the seed oil crash. Concerns over specific fatty acid content, oxidisation and smoke points, and ultra-processing have led consumers away from these fats, in pursuit of ‘cleaner’, better-for-them alternatives.

This has coincided with the rise of fats like Zero Acre’s fermented oil, which is a boon for the planet, as well as a resurgence of beef tallow, which consumers consider more natural. For those hopping on the beef tallow trend, planetary concerns don’t seem to be too high on the priority list though, and that’s a problem.

The tirade against seed oils has led figures like Robert F Kennedy Jr – president-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services Secretary, who has been promised a free reign on the US food system – to call for a return of tallow to America’s kitchens, blaming seed oils for its obesity epidemic.

Food brands are cashing in on the beef tallow trend

The rendered fat, sourced from the kidneys of cows, has made a comeback in a big way. One rancher told the New York Times: “Thanks to TikTok and social media for really promoting tallow as trendy,” she said. “When we released it on our website, we sold $42,000 in tallow overnight. Sold out.”

The beef with seed oils has led some brands to proudly display ‘no seed oil’ labels on their packaging. As highlighted by Andrea Hernández’s Snaxshot newsletter, tortilla chip maker Ancient Crunch’s Masa Chips have a neat ‘0g seed oil’ label front-of-pack. Beefy’s Own chooses to go with ‘vegetable oil free’ on its Tallow Chips packaging. Rosie’s Chips, meanwhile, doesn’t want to leave either out. ‘No vegetable or seed oil’ appears bang in the centre of the pack, encased in a golden star so you don’t miss it.

Even new players like Jesse & Ben’s are banking on the seed-oil-free movement, promising customers its fries will be cooked in either avocado oil or grass-fed beef tallow (more on the latter later). What’s the fuss with beef tallow, then?

Is beef tallow healthy?

Like McDonald’s, all these brands will tell you that it imparts lots of good flavour to their food products. Because beef tallow has a high smoke point, it also doesn’t oxidise as easily. Plus, it’s solid at room temperature and lasts a long time.

Proponents of beef tallow also say that it contains the ‘good’ kinds of saturated fat and natural trans fat.

Going down the rabbit hole of nutrition research about fats can be mind-boggling, and different studies will tell you different things.

One thing we do know is that we’re eating too much of it – in the US, one study suggests saturated fat makes up nearly 12% of calorie consumption, despite the national nutrition guidelines recommending Americans to keep this under 10%.

The American Heart Association, meanwhile, has an even lower threshold of 5%. This is because historically, these fats have been linked with an increased risk of heart disease, which kills an American every 33 seconds. Recent research has blurred that link, though even these studies acknowledge that replacing saturated with polyunsaturated fats can reduce the risk of heart disease.

As for trans fats, these have been labelled by the vast majority of health experts as the worst kind of fat there is – though even then, some argue that naturally occurring trans fats are okay, if in moderation.

Vegetable oils have a much higher concentration of unsaturated fats (around 80%), while beef tallow has only about 40%, according to the USDA. And nearly half of the latter is saturated fat, with the major fatty acid being palmitic acid. This has been known to raise LDL (or bad) cholesterol levels – beef tallow has 109mg of cholesterol per 100g.

Palmitic acid also affects your metabolism negatively, a charge also levelled at seed oils. The argument against these vegetable oils stems from oxidation and the presence of linoleic acid. Some say this acid oxidises 40 times faster than saturated fat, and can become ‘toxic’ and cause a host of diseases, including inflammation. Seed oils are criticised for being overly processed too, which means they sometimes contain artificial trans fats.

Vegetable oils themselves, though, came on the scene as heart-healthy alternatives to animal fats like tallow. Plus, they also have a much higher concentration of micronutrients like vitamins and minerals than beef tallow.

Beef tallow becomes skincare favourite on TikTok

The fat has been making the rounds on TikTok for its purported skin benefits, with some calling it “nature’s Botox”.

It began after influencer Nara Smith added tallow to her homemade moisturiser. The trend has picked up remarkably, with people claiming it can protect the skin barrier and help with acne, eczema and psoriasis.

Remnant Beauty and Béla Nektar, which both use beef tallow in their offerings, saw annual sales shoot up by 134% and 400%, respectively, in the last two years. And online mentions of “beef tallow skincare” grew by 180% in 2024.

Despite this uptick, experts have warned that using beef tallow as a face cream can actually worsen acne, irritate the skin, and increase the risk of photosensitivity. Also, it can carry bacteria, has a high risk of going off quickly, and carries a meaty smell – where’s the upside?

Beef tallow’s climate problem

While people will continue to debate the health credentials of these different oils and fats, the conversation about the climate seems to have gone by the wayside.

One estimate suggests that beef tallow generates 11.92kg of carbon per kg. This is higher than chicken, and puts it at the top end of the list of foods with the highest GHG emissions.

Beef itself is the most heavily polluting food group on the planet, emitting twice as many greenhouse gas emissions as the next on the list (dark chocolate). Even the meat from dairy herds, which make up a minority of current beef production, has a massive climate footprint, appearing fourth on the list.

Cattle ranching to produce beef and its derivatives like tallow and gelatine is the top driver of Amazon deforestation (accounting for 80%). According to the WWF, deforestation from cattle ranching releases 340 tonnes of CO2 annually, making up 3.4% of global emissions.

In its analysis of different fats, Zero Acre – which feeds microbes on rain-fed sugarcane plants to produce its oil – suggests that the environmental impact of beef tallow varies quite a bit depending on how the cows are reared.

Beef tallow sourced from factory-farmed cows emits high amounts of greenhouse gases and uses too much water. Whereas regeneratively farmed tallow may be as sustainable as its own fermentation-derived oil, claims Zero Acre, based on data from a life-cycle analysis by White Oak Pastures.

Zero Acre is part of a collaboration with Miami eatery Los Felix (a recipient of the Michelin Green star), which combines its fermented oil with beef tallow to make tortilla crisps.

Beef tallow advocates are blowing smoke

Beef tallow may have a high smoke point, but it’s also a huge reason why there’s smoke coming out from the planet.

While the food brands mentioned above want you to know that their beef tallow is sourced from grass-fed or pasture-fed beef, the data is clear: these ‘premium’ beef products carry a high environmental price tag.

One study last year revealed that pasture-raised cows that feed on grass account for 20% higher GHG emissions than grain-fed cattle. Further, when accounting for soil carbon sequestration and carbon opportunity costs, the total carbon footprint of pasture-raised operations was 42% higher.

Zero Acre’s oil, on the other hand, is definitely planet-friendly, as is the microalgae oil from Algae Cooking Club (which has the backing of a three-Michelin-starred chef, if we’re counting).

Many other startups are working on sustainable alternatives to animal fats – a reminder that products like beef tallow, whether they’re factory-farmed, grass-fed, or regeneratively raised, need replacing.

Companies that present beef as ‘climate-friendly’ are, frankly, engaging in a bullshit exercise. It doesn’t matter how it’s raised, beef is terrible for the planet, and so are products derived from it, such as tallow.

Unfortunately, when it comes to social media, this hard truth is falling on deaf ears.