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Cold-pressed vs refined oil: what's actually different

· 3 min read

Wood-pressed, chekku, kachi ghani, cold-pressed: these are some of the most popular words on Indian oil bottles right now. They do mean something. They just don't mean everything the marketing implies.

What the words mean

Cold-pressed oil is squeezed out of the seed mechanically and then filtered. Refined oil usually goes through more steps. It may be extracted with a solvent such as hexane, and is then neutralised, bleached and deodorised with steam at high temperature. The result is a clear, neutral oil that keeps for a long time and doesn't smoke as easily.

In India, only one of these words has a legal test. For mustard oil, "Kachi Ghani" or "Cold Pressed" must contain a minimum level of the natural compound that gives mustard its bite. For groundnut, coconut and sesame oil, "cold-pressed" and "wood-pressed" have no legal definition. They only need to be true. "Expeller-pressed" doesn't automatically mean low heat either, because the press itself can warm the oil.

What refining takes out

This part is well documented. Refining, and especially the final deodorising step, removes much of an oil's vitamin E (tocopherols), plant sterols and polyphenols. One review found that sunflower oil lost between a quarter and most of its tocopherols during refining, depending on conditions. Similar losses have been measured in rapeseed oil.

What refining can add

The high-temperature step can form small amounts of trans fat and compounds called 3-MCPD esters and glycidyl esters. EFSA has assessed these, and the EU now limits them in oils. Levels vary widely by oil and refinery, and they're highest in refined palm oil. India has also capped trans fat at 2% of fats in foods since 2022.

What we don't know

Here's the honest gap: we couldn't find a human study comparing cold-pressed with refined groundnut, coconut or sesame oil on any health outcome. The famous olive oil trial, PREDIMED, tested extra-virgin olive oil as part of a Mediterranean diet against a low-fat diet. It didn't test extra-virgin against refined olive oil.

So "cold-pressed keeps more natural compounds" is supported. "Cold-pressed is better for you" hasn't been shown.

Which oil matters more than how it's pressed

What does have strong evidence is the type of fat. The WHO recommends replacing saturated fats with unsaturated ones. A cold-pressed coconut oil is still mostly saturated fat, and a refined groundnut oil is still mostly unsaturated. ICMR-NIN's 2024 guidelines suggest using oils in moderation and rotating between different ones, including some that are usually sold refined, such as rice bran oil.

A note on frying

Unrefined oils usually smoke at lower temperatures. For deep frying, more saturated oils such as coconut, and oleic-rich ones such as groundnut, hold up well. Separately, IARC classes the fumes from high-temperature frying, especially in poorly ventilated kitchens, as a probable carcinogen. Good ventilation matters whichever oil you use.

What Everykind does

We mark cold-pressed oils with a green tag because the pack tells you how the oil was made and that it isn't refined. We treat it as a quality and process choice, not a health claim. When a product uses a refined oil, we show the oil in the ingredient line so you can decide.

Sources

This is a summary of published research, not medical advice. Related tags on our standard: Cold-pressed oil.