An ingredient used to fry your food is making its way into sunscreen

Dermatologists have some serious beef with sunbathers who are swapping traditional sunscreens for a trendy new ingredient. 

A favorite of the Make America Healthy Again movement, beef tallow – a rendered beef fat generally used in cooking – is similar to lard, which is generally made from pigs as opposed to cows. While it has been touted by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as being innately "better for you" than other types of oils and fats, like seed oils, there is no established evidence to support this.

Still, the saturated fat has continued to worm its way into more pop culture conversations and products. And while Steak ‘n Shake agreeing to cook its fries in the stuff seemed obvious, adding it to your sunscreen may not.

Beef tallow skincare products have flooded online marketplaces like Amazon and TikTok, where consumers are sold "all-natural" sunblocks. The trend has skincare experts sounding alarms, with one TikTok-famous pharmacist, Dr. Ethan Melillo, taking to the platform on June 7 to respond to a clip of a badly burned man who purportedly used a beef tallow-based sunscreen to achieve his deep red shade.

A subsequent video from the account that posted the man then advertised and linked the product, a "grass-fed beef tallow dayglow blocker," that markets itself as free of chemicals, dyes and toxins.

"No wonder he looks like the color of raw beef," said Melillo. "You are literally putting beef tallow on him as sunscreen, it's just like greasing him up."

And while it may seem odd, using the same stuff we fry our food in on our skin isn't exactly a novel idea.

"Using animal fats on the skin is not new. Fats have historically been used in soaps, balms and protective salves," double board-certified dermatologist Dr. Elizabeth Houshmand told USA TODAY. "What is new is the way beef tallow has been repackaged and promoted on social media as a 'clean,' natural or superior skincare ingredient and, more recently, incorporated into some sunscreen formulations."

She pointed at a broader social media movement toward "ancestral" skincare (think the "paleo diet" but for your skin), minimal ingredient lists and products marketed as "natural" or free from conventional cosmetic ingredients. All of that advertising, however, doesn't equal effectiveness, she said.

Does beef tallow offer SPF protection?

For starters, beef tallow has no innate sun-protective properties.

"There is also no established evidence that beef tallow itself enhances SPF or provides meaningful broad-spectrum ultraviolet protection," said Houshmand. "Beef tallow itself is not a sunscreen active ingredient and should not be relied upon for ultraviolet protection."

Like the coconut and baby oil trends before it, the inclusion of a fatty, oily substance that somewhat mimics the skin's natural oils has attracted consumers with promises of superior moisturizing factors and an abundance of vitamins like A and D.

It is true that beef tallow's fatty-acid profile creates an oily barrier that doesn't allow water to escape, keeping the skin more hydrated, Dr. Anthony Rossi, dermatologist and skin cancer surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, told USA TODAY.

But dermatologists don't recommend using animal fat as a moisturizer in general, Rossi said, as it is less refined and known to clog pores. And as a primary ingredient in a sunscreen, it is likely to have the opposite of the desired effect.

"To extrapolate it for sunscreen doesn't really make sense because there's really no inherent SPF ... it probably increases your burn risk because not only are you getting unprotected UV exposure, but it's also an oil that's sitting on your skin," he said.

'Natural' doesn't equal 'good'

The other major marketing point - that beef tallow as a sunscreen ingredient is more "natural" and therefore gentler on and better for the skin - also has some flaws.

"Calling tallow 'natural' may be factually accurate, but natural does not automatically mean safer, gentler or more effective," said Houshmand. "Poison ivy is also natural. Whether a product is gentle depends on the entire formulation."

Those with sensitive skin, allergies or concerns about less-irritating ingredients may be tempted to opt for products that advertise themselves as "free" of "artificial" additives. But in the case of replacing other additives with beef tallow, that idea may backfire.

"Unrefined oil is probably more irritating and more inflammatory than the types of moisturizers that we make skincare with, which are more refined," Rossi said. Its heavy nature also causes oils to build up in pores, causing acne and breakouts, which other established moisturizing ingredients, like ceramides, petrolatum, squalene, glycerin and shea butter, are less likely to do.

Plus, Rossi said, the likelihood of that extra vitamin A absorbing through your skin in a meaningful way after lotion application isn't high.

"Beef tallow does have some fat-soluble vitamins, like vitamin A and vitamin D, but are they getting into the skin? No one really knows 'cause the studies aren't really done," he said. "You can put an orange on your skin, but are you actually getting the vitamin C from the orange into your skin cells?"

Make sure your skincare is effective, not trendy

Many of the sunscreens sold online through avenues like Amazon and TikTok Shop do not rely solely on beef tallow as the main sun-fighting ingredient. Those that do list ingredients generally have approved sun protectants like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, both FDA-approved mineral sunscreen agents, and include beef tallow simply as an emollient or occlusive (AKA moisturizing) ingredient.

Still, extensive testing and chemistry go into producing an approved sunscreen, said Rossi, who has gone through the process of formulating his own. Adding ingredients like beef tallow without undergoing proper review means that we can end up with lotions that aren't shelf stable, don't preserve active ingredients, melt in the sun, come off easier in water, don't apply evenly, require more reapplications or simply don't provide the benefits their packaging claims.

"Product quality matters," said Houshmand. "Consumers should choose a professionally manufactured, well-preserved and properly tested formulation rather than homemade or loosely regulated preparations, where purity, stability, contamination and consistent UV protection may be uncertain."

The presence of a certain ingredient doesn't have to turn you off a sunscreen completely. Other components, like whether it is mineral or chemical, add-ins like fragrance and oils, and moisturizing factors, are all things consumers should consider when choosing the right sunscreen. Just make sure you're using at least SPF 30.

And for those worried about things like sensitive skin and ingredient absorption, the new FDA-approved sunscreen ingredient bemotrizinol may be a better, and less acne-causing, option, said Rossi and Houshmand.

Bemotrizinol is gentle enough to use on children as young as 6 months, according to the FDA, and has lower levels of absorption through the skin and into the body. Sunscreen manufacturers can include bemotrizinol as an active ingredient beginning Aug. 9. The brand PARSOL Shield will be the first sunscreen with the new ingredient sold in the United States.

"Beef tallow may make a sunscreen more moisturizing, but it does not make it a better sunscreen. UV protection comes from the tested sunscreen filters and the performance of the finished formulation, not from the tallow," said Houshmand. "It is better for your skincare to be effective, not trendy. Find a sunscreen that works for you and use it daily."