Sunflower oil is very widely used in cosmetics, skincare and hair care products from lipsticks, moisturising lotions, creams, facial cleansers, hair conditioners and much more. It’s also sold as a single-ingredient cooking oil and often as part of cooking oil blends.

Sunflower oil is most commonly made simply by pressing the sunflower seeds using an expeller press. This press type uses high pressure and friction to squeeze out every last drop. Before the seeds are pressed however, they need to be properly prepared - they are usually crushed and heated to sterilise them. Most sunflower seed oils are also processed further by deodorizing.

Lecithin (an important nutrient and food ingredient) can be derived from sunflowers. Sunflower is not a genetically modified crop, unlike soya (the most common source of lecithin). So, if you find a product which lists lecithin (from sunflower) in the ingredient list you can rest assured that this lecithin is non-GMO.

Despite being native to North America, the top 2 leading producers of sunflower seeds in the world are Ukraine and Russia. Together, they produced almost 50% of all sunflower seeds in the world, in 2013.

The United States Food & Drug Administration has allowed heart healthy claims to be associated with high oleic sunflower oil as a substitute for other saturated fats. High oleic sunflower oil must contain at least 70% oleic acid to qualify.