Cotton is best known as a textile fibre, but its seeds are an important by-product of the cotton industry. Once the lint is removed, cottonseed is crushed to extract oil and produce a high-protein meal used in animal feed.
Cottonseed oil is a mild, neutral-flavoured vegetable oil widely used in commercial food manufacturing, particularly for frying and in processed snack foods. It was one of the first vegetable oils produced at industrial scale in the United States and remains a common ingredient in blended cooking oils and margarine.
Australia grows cotton primarily in New South Wales and Queensland, making domestically sourced cottonseed oil available alongside imported product.
How it's produced
Cotton is grown as an annual crop in warm climates with long growing seasons. In Australia, it is cultivated mainly in irrigated fields across inland New South Wales and Queensland. Plants are machine-harvested for their fibre bolls, and the seeds are separated from the lint at ginning facilities.
The seeds are then cleaned, dehulled, and mechanically pressed or solvent-extracted to produce crude cottonseed oil. The oil is refined, bleached, and deodorised before use in food products. The remaining seed meal is used as livestock feed.
What it costs the planet (per kilo)
≈ Estimated from its category — typical for vegetable oils, not measured for this item yet. Sources & methods →
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