Last year, Hayes Barton Place became the first senior living community to receive the Seed Oil Free Certified Cooking Oil designation from the Seed Oil Free Alliance, part of the community’s emphasis on health and wellness.
Hayes Barton Place, a Liberty Senior Living community, opened in Raleigh, North Carolina last January. Dining plays a central role in the community’s holistic approach with a focus on scratch cooking, and the culinary team switched to house-made alternatives to seed oil crafted from oils certified by the Seed Oil Free Alliance, such as beef tallow mayo, olive oil mayo, Caesar dressing made with olive oil and vinaigrettes using extra virgin olive oil.
The effort to eliminate industrial seed oils was prioritized because of concerns about the long-term effects on health that are fueling the seed-oil-free movement, with Hayes Barton Place calling it “a practical and impactful step toward healthier aging.”
“Awareness around healthier alternatives to seed oils is growing, and we wanted to be ahead of that curve,” said Robert Senter, culinary service specialist at Liberty Senior Living. “We’ve fully transitioned to the more nutritious options.”
Seed oils include soybean, canola, corn and sunflower oils, which are frequently used in commercial food preparations. The Seed Oil Free Alliance argues that they are often highly processed and rich in unstable polyunsaturated fats and should be avoided. The Seed Oil Free Alliance’s certification process involved a comprehensive audit of ingredient sourcing, documentation and laboratory analysis to confirm that all oils used meet the alliance’s standards.
“We’ve long known that the quality of fats in our diet plays a profound role in inflammation, longevity and overall well-being,” said Andrew Weil, the scientific and medical advisor to the Seed Oil Free Alliance. “I’m encouraged to see Hayes Barton Place making meaningful changes. Eliminating seed oils from cooking is a practical and impactful step toward healthier aging.”
Hayes Barton Place is a luxury rental Life Plan Community with 214 independent residences in apartments, flats and terraces. Hayes Barton Place offers access to all levels of care in addition to independent living, including assisted living, memory support, rehabilitation and skilled nursing in the Bloomsbury Health Center.
Wellness is “at the heart of life at Hayes Barton Place,” with an emphasis on Liberty Senior Living’s I.N.S.P.I.R.E Wellness Program, which is based on a holistic approach to health, according to the community. The dimensions of wellness in the program are Inclusive, Nutritional, Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Recreational, and Engaging.
According to Liberty Senior Living, residents have shown interest and appreciation for the elimination of seed oils at Hayes Barton Place, something it notes is found in upscale restaurants and fine dining. The company says residents see the focus on seed oils as the community recognizing and supporting their own interest in wellness.
“Largely because of our overall commitment to wellness, we’re attracting more and more residents who are health conscious, and they appreciate us integrating best practices into everything we do, including food preparation,” said Nicole Cook, vice president of operations for Liberty Senior Living. “By becoming the first senior living community in the country to receive the Seed Oil Free Certified™ Cooking Oil designation, we’re making a clear statement: We believe our residents deserve the best, and that includes food prepared without highly refined, potentially harmful seed oils.”
In the months since Hayes Barton Place became the first community to become Seed-Oil-Free Certified, Carlisle Palm Beach became Liberty Senior Living’s second community to earn the certification and the first community in Florida to take the step.