French mayonnaise

In your situation, and if like me, not a French speaker, I would get some card(s) made up that have the question, in French "Is there mayonnaise in this?"
and "Is the mayonnaise made with soybean oil?"

And a "soybeans/soybean oil makes me ill" card. made up.

Based on nothing but google research it looks like most mayonnaise in France does not use soybean oil. Most common oils listed were safflower, sunflower, or olive oil. I'm sure there may be varieties in France that do use soybean oil, but it looks like most restaurants make their own and do not use soybean oil.

Maybe someone who lives in France will come on here with more first hand information.

Hellmans available in France is made from 78% huile de colza or rapeseed oil.

However, perhaps the best option would be to avoid mayo if you cannot be sure of its contents. Many restaurants may not be able to confirm the exact source of the oil they use in their mayonnaise unless they actually do make it themselves.

Soybean oil isn't used much in Europe. Pretty much all of the mayonnaise is made using primarily sunflower or rapeseed oil, some companies add a bit of olive oil and proudly boast on the label that it's made with olive oil despite it probably only making up 2% (although mayonnaise made completely of olive oil would taste too strong).

One of the most popular French mayonnaise brands available in the UK (very good it is too) is Maille, here are the ingredients:

Sunflower oil (74%), free range EGG yolk (8.3%), water, Dijon mustard (5.5%) (water, MUSTARD seed, spirit vinegar, salt, preservative (potassium METABISULPHITE), acid (citric acid)), spirit vinegar, salt, sugar, acid (lactic acid), flavouring, antioxidant (rosemary extract), colours (paprika extract, lutein), thickener (xanthan gum), spices (contain CELERY)

It's similar in the way that the US primarily uses corn syrup as a sweetener whereas in Europe the sugar is more often from sugar beet.

I confirm, the jar of cheap mayo I have in the fridge right now here in Paris is made from rapeseed (colza) oil. Can't remember soybean oil on any food label here...

We have a jar of mayo in the fridge we bought in Paris a couple of days ago; it is made with rapeseed oil.

I've just checked my fridge, here in the UK.

Soybean oil is very rare here relative to the US.

I have two jars of Hellmans mayo, one "Light" and one "Lighter than Light". Both have no soy at all, only rapeseed (some folks in North America apparently didn't like the name so started calling it Canola.

It is worth asking, but I think it unlikely you will see much mayo with soy.

Oil-seed rape is a major crop in the U.K. at this time of year. It produces vivid yellow flowers which give off a strong honey-ish smell. The rape fields are visible from a great distance and are the predominant colour in the landscape. After the flowers die, the plants and the seed heads are a dull brownish colour. The crop is harvested in the late summer.

Rapeseed oil is also bright yellow. It is sold as cooking oil, and used in products like mayonnaise, which are also mpre yellow than mayonnaise made with sunflower oil.

Wow, thank you for all the responses. This makes me feel better. I think I may want to stay in Europe just for the ease of eating out! It’s like a mine field for me in the USA.
I’m excited for our 2 weeks in France and all their great food!

To keep the words straight: Cross-breeding turned rapeseed into canola, common in North America. It eliminated some of the less attractive characteristics, including a name that was hard to market. One legend is that "canola" stands for "Canadian oil", where it was developed. Good story, but I can't vouch for its accuracy. Anyhow, serious chefs probably make their own mayo traditionally.

From Wikipedia:

Canola was bred from rapeseed cultivars of B. napus and B. rapa at the University of Manitoba, Canada, by Keith Downey and Baldur R. Stefansson in the early 1970s,[3][4] having then a different nutritional profile than present-day oil in addition to much less erucic acid.[5] Canola was originally a trademark name of the Rapeseed Association of Canada, and the name was a condensation of "Can" from Canada and "ola" from other vegetable oils like Mazola,[6][7] but is now a generic term for edible varieties of rapeseed oil in North America and Australia. The change in name serves to distinguish it from natural rapeseed oil, which has much higher erucic acid content.

Rape in this context comes from rapum, the Latin word for a turnip - all part of the same family.

Wow, interesting info on the canola/rape seed oil development. I buy Brianna’s salad dressings made in Canada with canola oil, they don’t have soybean oil like almost all USA salad dressings. They are very tasty, too.

What Bob said about oil-seed rape being a big crop in the U.K. is true as well for France. The yellow fields are very striking.

There are a couple mayos available in the US that are soy free if you are looking here too. Sir Kensington (limited availability, amazon carries it too) and Just Mayo (also egg free) are two options.

Thank you Mark, I have found both of those, the Sir Kensington Mayo is very good! Have it in my fridge now.