We are excited to announce the return of EPIC Animal Fats! We’ve spent the past year examining our manufacturing process from the ground up and couldn’t be more excited to bring this critical piece of our Whole Animal Project back to life.
Even though animal fats were wrongfully vilified in recent decades, their superiority to vegetable oils (especially those with trans fats) is now hard to ignore. Because animal fat is mostly saturated, it stands up much better to high-heat cooking. Animal fats are more shelf-stable than vegetable oils and less prone to oxidation that produces carcinogens. And the taste has no comparison! When frying, foods absorb less oil when animal fat is used—producing a more flavorful yet less greasy result.
Most importantly, animal fats are the best choices when it comes to regenerating the environment. Because they don’t absorb as much oil, you’ll end up using less than vegetable oils. Plus this relaunch allows EPIC to continue to grow our Whole Animal Project. Finally, animal fats can be used for other household and cosmetic applications to replace toxic skincare and petroleum-based products
Where did they go?
Last June, we issued a recall on our EPIC Animal Fats. A production issue resulted in the potential for unsafe bacteria growth. No illnesses were reported, but we voluntarily issued the recall out of precaution.
So what’s new this time around?
We’ve redesigned our production process to control and prevent those kinds of issues from reoccurring. We also put additional monitoring steps in place to alert us to those kinds of issues if they occur.
Is the product experience different as a result of these changes?
We believe the changes we’ve made result in a better and more consistent product experience, but you be the judge!
Have you changed the sourcing or quality of any of your fats?
Nope! The same sourcing standards that are integral to our mission and values remain. We’re only producing products that we’d feed our families and ourselves and that promote responsible treatment of animals and the land on which they’re raised.
Anything else I should know?
We’ve learned an incredible amount over the past year as we sought to understand how to best bring this product back. We’ve talked fats with lots of folks and uncovered some interesting information we’ll share in the near future. In short, we’re incredibly proud to stand by our sourcing and processing standards for EPIC Animal Fats. There are several processing options that our competitors utilize but that we refuse to use—such as deodorizing or bleaching our fats. While we certainly wish the fats had never left, we’re proud to bring them back and continue to honor the animals that sacrifice their lives for our sustenance.