You may have heard about the many benefits of using avocado oil, which include helping to control cholesterol levels, high Omega-9 oleic acid content, antioxidants and more. These all appear to be genuine. It also has a high smoke point relative to other cooking oils, which means you can use it at much higher temperatures. (Fried foods are healthiest when cooked for a shorter time at a higher temperature.) It also gives foods a mild, slightly buttery taste.
The problem is that what you find on the shelf at your local grocery store may not deliver on these proven health benefits. A 2020 study done at the University of California - Davis found that "the vast majority of avocado oil in U.S. is of poor quality, mislabeled or adulterated with other oils".
Researchers tested 22 brands of avocado oil and concluded that 82% of them were rancid well before their expiration dates or else were mixed with large amounts of other oils. Either way, their health benefits were negated. Three of the samples contained almost no avocado oil at all. The test compared the store bought oils to oil produced directly from avocados in the laboratory.
It made no difference if the oil was domestic or imported. In fact olive oil produced in California ranked among the best.
Of the 22 brands tested, only 2 - Chosen Foods and Marianne's - were both pure and un-oxidized.
What is it going to take to force food producers and sellers to deliver what they tell us we are getting?
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