The Make America Healthy Again campaign and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are making beef tallow cool again. Americans are championing for a return to traditional wholesome food practices in the US, leading to a renewed interest in tallow and a diversion from seed oils (corn, soybean, canola, cottonseed, sunflower, etc.).

Beef tallow is solidified, rendered cattle fat that is further processed to remove impurities. Tallow can be classified into three categories, according to the US Department of Agriculture:

Inedible tallow -- A cattle by-product produced by rendering down all the inedible waste, used in the manufacturing of soap and formerly incorporated into animal feeds.

Inedible packer bleachable tallow -- Packer bleachable tallow is inedible all-beef tallow. It is produced from beef fractions or bones. These inedible fractions may be collected from small packing plants, butchers or retail stores and processed without USDA supervision. It may be referred to as “soap grade” tallow. It is used in the soap, cosmetic, chemical and animal feeds industries.

Edible tallow -- Derived from cooking down fatty tissue from edible portions of the beef carcasses under supervision of USDA Meat Inspection. It is further refined by running the product through separators and filters to remove all traces of solids and moisture. The main use of edible tallow is as shortening in a wide variety of baked goods and frying oil.

When beef tallow is refined it retains its natural properties and rich content of essential fatty acids and vitamins A, D, E, K, and B12. Many American modern diets are deficit in these nutrients.

Tallow is praised for its versatility in the kitchen. With tallow’s high smoke point and rich buttery flavor, restaurants and food manufacturers are beginning to transition from seed oils to beef tallow.

Some can remember the mouth-watering taste of McDonald’s french fries from the 1980’s when the fries were submerged and fried in 93% beef tallow and 7% canola oil.

Today, Buffalo Wild Wings prepares their numerous varieties of wings and fries in beef tallow, according to the allergen and preparation guide on the Buffalo Wild Wings website. On January 17, 2025, Steak ‘n Shake officially announced the company will be cooking their shoestring fries in 100% beef tallow. Chief Supply Chain Officer Chris Ward said, “Our fries will now be cooked in an authentic way, 100% beef tallow, in order to achieve the highest quality and best taste.”

Other ways beef tallow is finding its popularity:

• Health-conscious consumers partaking in the keto, carnivore and animal-based diets. Beef tallow fits well into diets prioritizing high fat and low carbohydrate consumption. The fatty acid profile in beef tallow is more nutrient dense and helps support sustained energy and overall health in comparison to seed oils.
• Cooking sustainably encompasses the eating from nose-to-tail philosophy. This can contribute to reducing waste, improving the flavor profile in the kitchen, and promote a more sustainable food industry.
• The cosmetic industry is also finding beef tallow to be very chic. Some are calling it the skincare ‘superfood’. Beef tallows hydrating properties help alleviate dryness and boost skin elasticity.

Exchanging seed oils for beef tallow not only supports the health-conscious community but also offers significant benefits to the rendering industry. Rendering is a fundamental method within the meat industry. Today, nearly 50% of an animal is inedible. Rendering reclaims, restores and reuses the inedible components of an animal into useable products, such as oil, diesel, and fat-based products for humans and animals. This sustainably removes the inedible components of the carcass from entering the landfills.

With that, the beef tallow mark is strong and continues to grow. In 2024, the global beef tallow market was approximately $14.2 billion and is expected to grow at a 5% rate each year.