History of the development of soy oil for edible uses

In the early 1940s, soybean oil was considered neither a good industrial paint oil nor a good edible oil. The history of soybean oil is a story of progress from a minor, little‐known, problem oil to a major source of edible oil proudly labeled on premium products in the 1980s. It is also a story of cooperative government research and industrial implementation of research findings. After 3‐1/2 decades, soybean oil, “the number one problem of the soybean industry,” has become the source of choice for edible oil products in the U.S., moreover, increasing outlets appear to be assured in the world markets of the future.