7 min read
I’m a dietitian. I’m Greek. And I’m an olive oil stan. I buy my extra-virgin olive oil in tins from specialty Greek markets in Astoria, just like my Yiayia taught me. And it’s the oil I reach for most often in my kitchen.
But olive oil doesn’t work for everything, so when I’m baking or want a more neutral-tasting oil, I go with avocado oil. I’ve always been pretty particular about which olive oil I buy because the flavors can be so distinct from brand to brand. But avocado oil? I used to just buy whatever was cheapest on the shelf.
That changed a few years ago, when research from the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) raised concerns about the purity and quality of avocado oil sold in the United States. Researchers found that some products labeled as avocado oil appeared to contain other oils, while some showed signs of oxidation before their expiration dates.
Those findings changed my own grocery list. Ever since, I’ve stuck primarily with brands that performed well in the UC Davis research, including Chosen Foods and Marianne’s.
But here is what I hadn’t really considered: What about all the foods I’m buying that are made with avocado oil? The chips, the salad dressings, the dipping sauces? As it turns out, new research from UC Davis looked at exactly that question—and the findings made me rethink the avocado-oil products in my grocery cart all over again.
The avocado oil boom
Avocado oil isn’t confined to bottles in the cooking-oil aisle anymore. It’s everywhere, from chips and crackers to mayo, salad dressings, and more. It really seems to have exploded as a go-to ingredient for better-for-you food brands.
The popularity makes sense because avocado oil is rich in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, has a relatively high smoke point, and its neutral flavor makes it incredibly versatile. It works well in everything from frying and baking to salad dressings and mayonnaise without overpowering the other flavors in a food.
I’ve been buying plenty of it myself, and oftentimes have been willing to pay significantly more for snacks and condiments specifically because they’re made with avocado oil. We’re talking sometimes double the price. But are we really getting what we’re paying for?
What the research says
The new UC Davis study hits particularly close to home: Researchers looked at avocado oil being used in the packaged foods many of us are buying.
They analyzed 54 packaged foods, including chips, salad dressings, and mayo, that listed avocado oil as their only oil. The researchers actually extracted the oil from the foods and analyzed its fatty-acid and sterol composition, essentially looking at the chemical markers that can help determine whether an oil is consistent with authentic avocado oil.
The results were striking: 48 out of 54 products tested had oil profiles that were inconsistent with authentic avocado oil.
Natalie Lopez-Alvarez/UC Davis
These chips were among the 54 avocado-labeled products tested for avocado oil authenticity in the Wang lab at UC Davis. (Natalie Lopez-Alvarez/UC Davis)
That doesn’t necessarily mean those products contained no avocado oil, nor does it tell us whether another oil was intentionally substituted. What it does mean is that the oil composition didn’t match what researchers would expect from authentic avocado oil. The findings suggest other oils may have been present.
Unfortunately, the results aren’t a complete shock. UC Davis researchers have been raising questions about avocado oil authenticity for years. They found issues with the quality and purity of bottled avocado oils in 2020 and again in follow-up research on private-label avocado oils in 2023.
How did this happen?
Immediately, my head goes to the companies whose names are printed on the packages. But ultimately, the answer may be more complicated.
That’s because food manufacturers don’t necessarily produce the avocado oil used in their products. They purchase ingredients from suppliers, who may themselves be sourcing oil from producers and processors elsewhere. That means there can be multiple steps between where an oil is produced and the company ultimately putting it into a bag of chips or a jar of mayo.
The UC Davis research tells us what researchers found in the foods they tested, but it doesn’t necessarily tell us where in the supply chain the problem occurred, or whether the brands themselves knew there was a problem. A company could purchase what it believes to be authentic avocado oil and receive an ingredient that doesn’t meet the expected composition of avocado oil.
I also can’t help but wonder whether some of these brands may even be sourcing their avocado oil from the same suppliers. If there is a problem further up the supply chain, it could potentially affect more than one food company without those brands realizing it.
But that doesn’t completely let manufacturers off the hook, either. If avocado oil is important enough to feature prominently on a package (and often charge a premium for), shouldn’t brands also be taking steps to verify that the avocado oil they’re buying is actually what their supplier says it is? While a food company may not be responsible for creating the problem, it is ultimately responsible for what ends up in the product it sells to shoppers like me and you.
Aren’t these things regulated?
This was my biggest surprise when I started digging into the issue. Food manufacturers can’t simply put whatever they want into a product and leave it off the ingredient list. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labeling requirements generally require ingredients to be accurately declared, and federal law even prohibits adulterated and misbranded food. What the FDA doesn’t do, however, is independently test and approve every packaged food before it hits store shelves. Ultimately, the responsibility falls largely on the manufacturers.
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On top of that, there’s another issue specific to avocado oil: The FDA currently doesn’t have a Standard of Identity specifically for it. Standards of Identity establish requirements for what certain foods must contain or how they must be composed to be marketed under a particular name. Without one for avocado oil, there isn’t currently an FDA-established definition that says an oil sold as avocado oil must fall within a specific set of chemical parameters.
This does not mean a manufacturer can legally substitute soybean, canola, or another oil and simply call it avocado oil. But without an established federal compositional standard specific to avocado oil, determining exactly what qualifies as authentic avocado oil and consistently testing it against that benchmark can be more challenging.
What about olive oil packaged foods?
There was an interesting contrast in the study. Researchers also tested 20 packaged foods that listed olive oil as their only oil. Nineteen had profiles consistent with authentic olive oil. So why are the majority of olive oil snacks and condiments performing so much better?
Olive oil has a much longer history of established international standards and methods for testing authenticity. Avocado oil is a comparatively younger industry, and its popularity may have grown faster than the standards and research needed to keep up with it. Work is still needed to establish standards that account for the natural variation that can occur in avocado oil.
Should you stop buying avocado oil products?
Even if another unsaturated vegetable oil is present, that doesn’t automatically make a product dangerous or unhealthy. To me, the bigger issue is that I want to get what I’m paying for. If I’m spending significantly more on a food because it’s marketed as being made exclusively with avocado oil, I should be able to trust that avocado oil is actually the oil I’m getting.
I’ll continue to be selective about the bottled avocado oil I buy, just as I have been since the original UC Davis research came out in 2020. But I’m no longer going to let “made with avocado oil” automatically justify a higher price for packaged snacks and condiments I buy for myself and my family.
And as a dietitian, I’ve noticed that avocado oil can create a bit of a health halo around a product, but the type of oil used is still only one part of the nutrition picture. Chips are still chips. Mayo is still mayo. The presence of avocado oil alone doesn’t tell us whether a food is actually nutritious, or whether it’s worth twice the price.
The good news is that the research also gave us some information about products that performed well. Six of the 54 avocado-oil foods tested had oil profiles consistent with authentic avocado oil, which included:
Grove AvoYeah! Mayo Sauce Made with Avocado OilGrove AvoYeah! Garlic Aioli Made with Avocado OilLesserEvil Moonions Intergalactic Onion Made with Organic Avocado OilSimply Tostitos Sea Salt & Avocado Oil Tortilla Chips
Manufacturers can change suppliers and formulations, and the researchers tested specific samples at a specific point in time, so I wouldn’t take these results as a lifetime guarantee for any particular product. And LesserEvil had one batch test compositionally consistent with authentic avocado oil, but another batch did not. The same was true with Simply Tostitos. Still, seeing which products performed well does give me more confidence in those brands, and shoppers something to work with.
What happens next?
I’d like to see more transparency from brands about how they verify the avocado oil they purchase. Do they require certificates of analysis from suppliers? Do they independently test the oil? What happens when an ingredient doesn’t meet their specifications? And will the FDA eventually establish a Standard of Identity for avocado oil?
Those are the answers I want. Because as a consumer, I shouldn’t have to stand in the grocery aisle wondering whether the avocado oil listed on a package is actually avocado oil.
Brands should be able to trust their suppliers. Consumers should be able to trust brands. And regulators should have adequate standards and tools to help ensure that what’s listed on a food label is what’s actually in the food.
Because if I’m paying a premium for avocado oil, I don’t think it’s too much to ask that I actually get avocado oil.
Dining and Cooking