IF you ate chips at McDonald’s before 1990, you experienced the rich flavour of beef tallow.

Once a staple of family roasts, beef tallow – rendered beef fat or dripping in the old vernacular as it was originally made from fat that dropped into the pan when roasting meat – declined in popularity when dieticians began promoting low-fat diets and plant and seed-oils over animal fats in the 1980s.

But, like butter, beef tallow has been staging a dietary comeback as questions have been raised about the health implications of using plant and seed oils for cooking, which some experts claim can lead to inflammation, weakened immune systems and chronic illnesses.

Championing the dietary push back to beef tallow has been newly confirmed head of the US Department of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who lowered a raw Thanksgiving turkey into of bubbling pot of beef tallow, or rendered beef fat, in a video posted to social media last November.

“This is how we cook the MAHA way,” he says during the video (below), referring to his Trump administration slogan, “Make America Healthy Again”.

 

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The new US health department chief told media following his swearing-in earlier this month that McDonald’s should be incentivised to use beef tallow in its Big Macs.

Other fast-food chains have already made the move.

Last month Steak n Shake in the US announced it was switching to “100 percent all-natural beef tallow” in its restaurants.

“The consumer wants the best and deserves the best,” Steak n Shake chief global development officer Kristen Briede said in the media release announcing the move. “By adopting 100 percent beef tallow, Steak n Shake is delivering the best fries possible.”

Los Angeles-based salad chain Sweetgreen also announced new “protein-packed, seed oil-free” menu items in January, while the True Food Kitchen group also said menus across its 46 locations will also be going 100pc seed-oil free.

Like most health trends there are strong supporters and detractors on both sides of the beef tallow versus seed-oil debate.

Non-profit American academic medical centre the Cleveland Clinic states on its site that seed-oils are typically highly processed and can cause inflammation in the body.

The Mayo Clinic medical not-for-profit points out that in tallow, some of the saturated fat is a specific type known as stearic acid which appears to not raise cholesterol in the same way as other saturated fats.

Opposing the shift back to beef tallow is the Center for Science in the Public Interest in the US, which holds the view that seed oil opponents overstate the risks of inflammation, heart disease and obesity from seed oil, and claim that a diet rich in saturated fats such as those found in meats, butter and cheese poses a larger health risk.

A recent Reuters report noted that the confirmed appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr as head of the US Department of Health and Human Services could see the market for tallow grow as a result of his enthusiasm.

Included in the list of current nominees for a yet-to-be-confirmed advisory panel that will determine the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is US journalist Nina Teicholz, author of “The Big Fat Surprise”. As described on its website, the best selling book was the first publication not only to systematically argue that the saturated fats in animal foods have been unfairly maligned, based on weak, inconclusive evidence, but also to document the highly damaging unintended consequences (the rise of both vegetable oil and carbohydrate consumption).

While still to early to tell if the RFK Jr factor will increase beef tallow demand in the US, a chart plotting USDA-reported beef tallow prices since early 2024 shows a rising trend coinciding with his outspoken advocacy and confirmed appointment this month.