They Tested 54 Avocado Oil Products. The Results Are Disturbing

Scientific concepts & discoveries (nature/food science)

• Food authenticity/adulteration testing for “avocado oil” products: Researchers evaluated whether products labeled as containing avocado oil as the only edible oil ingredient actually contained authentic avocado-oil composition.
• Oil composition inconsistency (“failed” authenticity tests):
  • “Failed” means the extracted oils from specific lots were not compositionally consistent with authentic avocado oil.
  • This does not necessarily mean there was zero avocado oil—rather, other oils were also detected or the composition did not match.
• Batch-to-batch variation: Some products showed inconsistent results between repeated tests, suggesting brands may source from different suppliers or formulations may vary over time.
• Comparative authenticity vs. olive oil: The same study included a comparison group using olive oil products, with far fewer failures.
• Oxidation/purity claim for bottled oils (separate earlier work): A prior study on avocado oil bottles found certain brands to be both pure and non-oxidized.

What researchers did (methodology)

• Sampling & extraction
  • Researchers purchased 54 products (chips, mayonnaise, salad dressings) labeled as containing avocado oil (as the only edible oil ingredient).
  • They extracted the oils from the products.
• Authenticity testing
  • They tested avocado-oil products and determined how many “failed” authenticity criteria.
• Repeat testing / verification
  • They tested products twice to verify results and check reliability.
• Comparison set
  • They ran a comparable authenticity test on products made with olive oil.

Key results (percentages & outcomes)

Avocado oil products (processed foods)

• 54 avocado-oil products tested
  • 48 out of 54 failed authenticity testing (~89% failed).
• By category (reported):
  • Avocado oil chips: 93% failed
  • Avocado oil mayonnaises: 71% failed
  • Avocado oil salad dressings: 100% failed
• Additional verification
  • Multiple brands/lots failed both tests, indicating non-authenticity in those lots.
  • Some brands showed different outcomes across the two tests (inconsistency).

Olive oil products (comparison)

• 20 olive-oil products tested
  • 1 out of 20 failed (only ~5% failure), with many passing both tests.

Products named in the subtitles

Products that failed (avocado oil labeled)

Chips

• Boulder Canyon avocado oil classic sea salt chips (failed both tests)
• Siete kettle cooked sea salt potato chips (failed both tests)
• Siete maize sea salt tortilla chips (failed both tests)
• Kettle Brand avocado chips (failed)
• Jackson’s sweet potato + kettle cooked avocado chips (failed)
• Sprouts chips labeled “100% avocado oil” (failed)
• Good Health potato chips (failed)

Salad dressings

• Primal Kitchen oil & vinaigrette (failed)
• Primal Kitchen Italian Dressing made with avocado oil (failed)
• Chosen Foods dressing labeled “made with 100% pure avocado oil” (failed)
• Brianna’s dressing labeled “made with 100% avocado oil” (failed)
• Reported overall: all 12 avocado oil salad dressing samples failed

Mayonnaise

• Chosen Foods vegan mayo (failed)
• Chosen Foods classic mayo (failed)
• Primal Kitchen Real Mayonnaise (failed)
• Sir Kensington’s mayonnaise made with 100% avocado oil (failed)
• Better Body Foods mayonnaise made with 100% avocado oil (failed)

Note on interpretation: Even when “failed,” the product may still contain some avocado oil, but not in a way consistent with authentic avocado-oil composition.

Products that passed (avocado oil labeled)

• Lesser Evil moonions made with organic avocado oil
  • Passed first test, failed second test (inconsistent results)
• Simply Tostitos sea salt and avocado oil tortilla chips
  • Passed first test, failed second test (inconsistent results)

Subtitles emphasize that inconsistency suggests different suppliers/batches.

Products that passed (olive oil labeled)

Chips (olive oil)

• Trader Joe’s kettle cooked (passing both tests)
• Torres (passing both tests)
• Graza (passing both tests)

Mayonnaises (olive oil)

• Grove: Avonaise mayo (passed both tests)
• Grove: garlic aioli (passed both tests)
• Graza: mayo original (passed both tests)
• Graza: fancy (passed both tests)

Salad dressings (olive oil)

• Bellucci (passing both authenticity tests)
• Bragg (passing both authenticity tests)
• California Olive Ranch (passing both authenticity tests)

Researchers / sources featured (as named in subtitles)

• UC Davis researchers (study mentioned; specific authors not listed in the provided subtitles)
• PepsiCo (mentioned as acquiring Siete in Jan 2025)
• Kraft Heinz (mentioned as acquiring Primal Kitchen in 2019)
• Bioptimizers (sponsor mentioned; not a scientific source for the oil testing)