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The grand poobah of the edible oils industry, cottonseed oil has played a significant role in U.S. food history more than 150 years.
1794 Eli Whitney invents cotton gin
1882 First cottonseed oil bottled in the States
1897 First national cotton organization founded – later called the National Cottonseed Products Association
1899 Chemist David Wesson develops new process for deodorizing cottonseed oil –Wesson Oil® introduced
1909 American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS) formed to advance oil and fat chemistry
1911 Crisco® (short for crystallized cottonseed oil) shortening introduced
1937 Cottonseed oil edges out coconut oil, taking lead in margarine production
1941 World War II causes cottonseed oil shortages, forces soybean oil utilization
1944 Soybean oil outranks cottonseed oil for first time
1980 Industry moves to cleaner, safer and cost-effective production methods to extract oil1
1993 Cottonseed oil reaches estimated retail value of $1,741,470,6502
1997 Prepared Foods magazine reports, “Cottonseed oil is one of the most suitable oils for frying potato chips… it gives a very pleasant, natural flavor.”3
2004 Domestic demand for CSO surges above 900 million lbs for first time in nearly a decade
2004 Crisco® introduces Zero Grams Trans Fat per serving all-vegetable shortening made with cottonseed oil4
2005 ConAgra Foods launches new zero trans Wesson® cottonseed oil blend
2007 ACH Food Companies Inc. debuts new FryMax and Mazola zero trans cottonseed oil blends
