Ta
Tallow
TallowBarrier
An animal fat that softens skin and gives balms and soaps a rich feel.
What it does
It’s fat from beef or mutton, made mostly of the fatty acids oleic, palmitic and stearic acid. The EU lists it as a skin conditioner.
The EU’s ingredient database lists it as a skin conditioner, its general term for an ingredient that keeps skin in good condition.European Commission, CosIng (© European Union, CC BY 4.0) · uses put in plain words by Drop ↗
The evidence, graded
expert consensusTallow is fat from beef or mutton. US safety reviewers judged it safe as used in 1990: the fatty acids it’s made of didn’t irritate skin or eyes or cause allergy, and it’s approved for use in foods. They later reviewed newer studies and confirmed that conclusion. They stressed that animal-derived ingredients like it must be free of infectious agents, such as the prions behind mad cow disease (BSE).Cosmetic 1990 · Journal of the American College of Toxicology 9(2):153-164 ↗
Graded per the methodology: strong · moderate · emerging · expert consensus. A weak source on a strong claim gets the weaker label.
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