Upscale grocery chain Erewhon will now fry its hot bar foods in this regeneratively farmed oil

Erewhon, the luxury Los Angeles health-food grocer, is changing up its hot bar—but don’t worry, you can still get favorites like the buffalo cauliflower and turmeric chicken tenders. Instead of being fried in avocado oil, though, those dishes will now get their crisp from Zero Acre Farms’ Organic Fera fruit oil, a sustainable cooking oil made by pressing the fruit of the hybrid oleifera x guineensis palm tree. [Photo: Zero Acre Farms/Erewhon] Fera fruit oil is already used in more than 800 food service locations across the country, including the kitchens of Wynn hotels in Las Vegas and Cote Korean Steakhouse in New York. All 15 Erewhon locations will now use Zero Acre Farms’ oil for frying. (Erewhon will still use olive oil and avocado oil for other cooking needs and select dressings.) Zero Acre Farms made its Fera fruit oil as an alternative to seed oils like those made from soybeans, canola, and peanuts, which are commonly used in restaurant kitchens, especially for frying. Though the backlash against seed oils is controversial, some health experts have cautioned against cooking such oils at high temperatures or reusing them. Seed oils are high in polyunsaturated fats, which are…

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