Vegetable oil is a general term for edible oils from plant seeds or fruits that are liquid at room temperature. In Thai snacks it is often palm olein, the liquid fraction of palm oil, but soybean, rice bran, sunflower, canola and corn oils are common too. The words “vegetable oil” alone do not say which, and some products use a blend.
Its main job is frying: hot oil transfers heat fast, so chips, peas and crackers turn crisp and golden, and the oil that stays in the snack carries flavour and gives a rich mouthfeel. Snack Jack - Original Flavor and Lay’s Flat Potato Chips Chili Lime Flavor are both fried in vegetable oil. It also goes into cake batters and biscuit doughs.
Vegetable oils differ from vegetable fats mainly in being liquid at room temperature. Refined oils contain almost no protein, but when an oil comes from an allergenic plant such as peanut or soy, some countries require the source to be named.
