Wesson cooking oil

Last updated
Wesson Oil
Wesson Oil Logo.png
Product type Cooking oil
Owner Richardson International
Country United States
Introduced1899
Previous ownersSouthern Oil Company
Beatrice Foods
Conagra Foods
Website Wesson Oil

Wesson cooking oil is an American brand of vegetable oil manufactured in Memphis, Tennessee, and sold by Richardson International. Historically, Wesson was cottonseed oil, but as of 2009 the products sold under the Wesson brand are oil mixtures that may include canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil or sunflower oil.

Contents

History

Founding

Wesson Oil advertisement, 1918 Wesson Oil ad.jpg
Wesson Oil advertisement, 1918

Wesson was originally a trademark of the Southern Cotton Oil Company, named after David Wesson (1861–1934), a food chemist at the firm who, in 1899 developed a novel process for deodorizing cottonseed oil, producing the first commercial all-vegetable shortenings from cottonseeds. This new product was marketed as Snowdrift. The Savannah, Georgia, factory was erected in 1911 and torn down in 2004.[ citation needed ] In the 1920s, the vegetable oil division was spun off as the Wesson Oil & Snowdrift Company. In 1960, this firm merged with Hunt's Foods, Inc. to become Hunt-Wesson Foods, which later merged with Beatrice Foods. The brand was sold to ConAgra Foods along with many other former Beatrice brands in 1990.[ citation needed ]

Advertising lawsuit

In July 2011, two lawsuits were brought against ConAgra, arguing that it misrepresented Wesson as being "pure and natural" when it used genetically modified corn and soy in its oils. They argued that ConAgra "engaged in this misleading and deceptive campaign to charge a premium and take away market share from other similar products". [1] [2] In March 2019 a $27 million settlement or damages and reliefs was agreed to, [3] pending a final hearing and approval by the courts set for October 7, 2019. [4] [ clarification needed ]

Proposed acquisition

After an antitrust lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in early March 2018, Conagra Brands Inc. and J. M. Smucker Co. cancelled a deal for Smucker to purchase the Wesson brand. The FTC claimed that Smucker would have controlled at least 70 percent of the market for branded canola and vegetable oils. [5] [6]

On December 18, 2018, Conagra announced that it had reached an agreement to sell Wesson to Richardson International, Limited, Canada’s largest agribusiness operating elevators, crop input facilities, canola processing and oat milling facilities in Canada, the US and Britain. [7]

Wesson logo and jingle

The Wesson logo was created by Saul Bass in 1964. [8] [9]

The longtime spokeswoman for Wesson cooking oil was actress Florence Henderson, Although she sang the jingle, the word "Wessonality" was actually coined by a copywriter named Mark Itkowitz at BBDO New York in 1976. His initial concept was to use the Lloyd Price version of the song "Personality". It was Jim Jordan, who was BBDO's Creative Director who suggested using the version by Johnny Mercer as the basis for the campaign. Florence Henderson appeared in television commercials for Wesson from 1976 until 1996.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vegetable oil</span> Oil extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits

Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are mixtures of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or fats from seeds. Olive oil, palm oil, and rice bran oil are examples of fats from other parts of fruits. In common usage, vegetable oil may refer exclusively to vegetable fats which are liquid at room temperature. Vegetable oils are usually edible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hemp oil</span> Oil from hemp seeds

Hemp oil is oil obtained by pressing hemp seeds. Cold pressed, unrefined hemp oil is dark to clear light green in color, with a nutty flavor. The darker the color, the grassier the flavour. It should not be confused with hash oil, a tetrahydrocannabinol-containing oil made from the Cannabis flower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grape seed oil</span> Liquid fat derived from grape seeds

Grape seed oil is a vegetable oil derived from the seeds of grapes. A by-product of the winemaking industry, it is typically used for edible applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The J.M. Smucker Company</span> American food and beverage manufacturer

The J.M. Smucker Company, also known as Smuckers, is an American manufacturer of food and beverage products. Headquartered in Orrville, Ohio, the company was founded in 1897 as a maker of apple butter. J.M. Smucker currently has three major business units: consumer foods, pet foods, and coffee. Its flagship brand, Smucker's, produces fruit preserves, peanut butter, syrups, frozen crustless sandwiches, and ice cream toppings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cottonseed oil</span> Cooking oil

Cottonseed oil is cooking oil from the seeds of cotton plants of various species, mainly Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium herbaceum, that are grown for cotton fiber, animal feed, and oil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oleic acid</span> Monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid

Oleic acid is a fatty acid that occurs naturally in various animal and vegetable fats and oils. It is an odorless, colorless oil, although commercial samples may be yellowish. In chemical terms, oleic acid is classified as a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid, abbreviated with a lipid number of 18:1 cis-9, and a main product of Δ9-desaturase. It has the formula CH3−(CH2)7−CH=CH−(CH2)7−COOH. The name derives from the Latin word oleum, which means oil. It is the most common fatty acid in nature. The salts and esters of oleic acid are called oleates. It is part of many oils and thus used in a lot of artificial food, as well as for soap.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shortening</span> Food ingredient

Shortening is any fat that is a solid at room temperature and used to make crumbly pastry and other food products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omega-6 fatty acid</span> Fatty acids where the sixth bond is double

Omega-6 fatty acids are a family of polyunsaturated fatty acids that have in common a final carbon-carbon double bond in the n-6 position, that is, the sixth bond, counting from the methyl end.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conagra Brands</span> American multinational consumer packaged goods holding company

Conagra Brands, Inc. is an American consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Conagra makes and sells products under various brand names that are available in supermarkets, restaurants, and food service establishments. Based on its 2021 revenue, the company ranked 331st on the 2022 Fortune 500.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crisco</span> American shortening brand

Crisco is an American brand of shortening that is produced by B&G Foods. Introduced in June 1911 by Procter & Gamble, it was the first shortening to be made entirely of vegetable oil, originally cottonseed oil. Additional products marketed under the Crisco brand include a cooking spray, various olive oils, and other cooking oils, including canola, corn, peanut, sunflower, and blended oils.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunt's</span> Brand of canned tomato products

Hunt's is the name of a brand of preserved tomato products owned by Conagra Brands. The company was founded in 1888, in Sebastopol, California, as the Hunt Bros. Fruit Packing Co., by Joseph and William Hunt. The brothers relocated to nearby Santa Rosa in 1890, and then to Hayward in 1895. This small canning operation grew rapidly, focused on canning the products of California's booming fruit and vegetable industries. By 1941, the plant shipped a hundred million cans of soup, fruits, vegetables, and juices annually.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corn oil</span> Oil from the seeds of corn

Corn oil or maize oil (British) is oil extracted from the germ of corn (maize). Its main use is in cooking, where its high smoke point makes refined corn oil a valuable frying oil. It is also a key ingredient in some margarines. Corn oil is generally less expensive than most other types of vegetable oils.

The smoke point, also referred to as the burning point, is the temperature at which an oil or fat begins to produce a continuous bluish smoke that becomes clearly visible, dependent upon specific and defined conditions. Smoke point values can vary greatly, depending on factors such as the volume of oil utilized, the size of the container, the presence of air currents, the type and source of light as well as the quality of the oil and its acidity content, otherwise known as free fatty acid (FFA) content. The more FFA an oil contains, the quicker it will break down and start smoking. The lower the value of FFA, the higher the smoke point. However, the FFA content typically represents less than 1% of the total oil and consequently renders smoke point a poor indicator of the capacity of a fat or oil to withstand heat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soybean oil</span> Oil obtained from seeds of soya plant

Soybean oil is a vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of the soybean. It is one of the most widely consumed cooking oils and the second most consumed vegetable oil. As a drying oil, processed soybean oil is also used as a base for printing inks and oil paints.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reddi-Wip</span> Whipped cream brand

Reddi-Wip is an American brand of sweetened whipped cream propelled from its container by nitrous oxide. It is produced by Conagra Brands and is sold in varieties such as Original, Extra Creamy, Fat Free, Zero Sugar, and Barista. In 2019, two new plant-based varieties, Non-Dairy Coconut and Non-Dairy Almond, were released. Both products are dairy-free and plant-based.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PAM (cooking oil)</span> Brand of cooking spray

PAM is a cooking spray currently owned and distributed by ConAgra Foods. Its main ingredient is canola oil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oil mill</span>

An oil mill is a grinding mill designed to crush or bruise oil-bearing seeds, such as linseed or peanuts, or other oil-rich vegetable material, such as olives or the fruit of the oil palm, which can then be pressed to extract vegetable oils, which may be used as foods or for cooking, as oleochemical feedstocks, as lubricants, or as biofuels. The pomace or press cake – the remaining solid material from which the oil has been extracted – may also be used as a food or fertilizer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cooking oil</span> Oil consumed by humans, of vegetable or animal origin

Cooking oil is a plant or animal liquid fat used in frying, baking, and other types of cooking. Oil allows higher cooking temperatures than water, making cooking faster and more flavorful, while likewise distributing heat, reducing burning and uneven cooking. It sometimes imparts its own flavor. Cooking oil is also used in food preparation and flavoring not involving heat, such as salad dressings and bread dips.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rapeseed oil</span> Vegetable oil

Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, it was restricted as a food oil due to its content of erucic acid, which in laboratory studies was shown to be damaging to the cardiac muscle of laboratory animals in high quantities and which imparts a bitter taste, and glucosinolates, which made it less nutritious in animal feed. Rapeseed oil from standard cultivars can contain up to 54% erucic acid.

References

  1. "ConAgra Lawsuit: Cooking Oil Giant Sued Over Fishy 'All-Natural' Claims". 25 August 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2017 via Huff Post.
  2. "Practitioner Insights - Westlaw Legal Research - Legal Solutions". newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  3. "Conagra, Plaintiffs Settle Wesson Oil 'Natural' Suit". Bloomberg Law . March 13, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  4. "Robert Briseno v. Conagra Foods, Inc. (2:11-cv-05379) District Court, C.D. California". CourtListener . June 12, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  5. Armental, Maria (2018-03-07). "Smucker, Conagra Call Off Wesson Oil Deal After FTC Challenge". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2021-10-19.
  6. "J.M. Smucker drops bid to buy Conagra's Wesson Oil after U.S. objects". Reuters. 2018-03-06. Retrieved 2021-10-19.
  7. Armental, Maria (March 6, 2018). "Smucker, Conagra Call Off Wesson Oil Deal After FTC Challenge". The Wall Street Journal . The New York Times, New York City, United States. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  8. Crum, Chris (2013-05-08). "Saul Bass Google Doodle Hits The Rest Of The World". WebProNews. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  9. "Our Story". Pure Wesson. Retrieved 31 July 2023.