Your Avocado Oil Is Probably Rancid and Not Even Pure. Here’s How to Check.

Avocado oil is touted as one of the healthiest in the grocery aisle. It’s rich in nutrients, antioxidants, and healthy fats that are linked to better heart heart. Plus, it has a neutral flavor and high smoke point, making it suitable for a wide range of recipes. Although avocado oil is popular, a lack of regulation has led to a large percentage of brands selling rancid or impure versions that undermine the health benefits.

“Want to know what I learned today?”

The evaluation that made this discovery was published in the journal Food Control in October 2020. But the study garnered further attention when a TikToker posted about it and got over 3 million views. Sammie Mancine is a functional medicine RN and holistic nutritionist who posts frequently on social media about a wide range of topics, from nutrition to health conditions to traveling to new scientific studies just like this one. 

“Want to know what I learned today? I learned that they just did a study on avocado oil and found that 82% of the oil was actually rancid or mixed with other oils such as canola oil,” she says in her video. “I learned that there are no regulations on avocado oil, so they can kind of go rogue here. And all of this is just a great new marketing scheme. I love this country so much,” she adds sarcastically.

Although Mancine is accurately talking about the 2020 study, it’s not a recent study. In fact, there was a follow-up one from last year that found that nearly 70% of private label avocado oils are rancid or mixed with other oils. That’s still a high statistic but it’s going in the right direction.

Read More: This ‘Healthy Oil’ May Be Increasing Your Cholesterol and Dementia Risk

The 2020 study

Back to the original study, food science experts Hilary Green and Selina Wang analyzed 22 domestic and imported avocado oil samples. These included all of the brands they could purchase locally and online. “In addition to testing commercial brands, we also bought avocados and extracted our own oil in the lab, so we would know, chemically, what pure avocado oil looks like,” said Wang, who is the associate professor of Cooperative Extension in the Department of Food Science and Technology.

Fifteen of the samples were oxidized before the expiration date, meaning it has lost flavor and health benefits. Six contained large amounts of other oils, including soybean, safflower, and sunflower. “I was surprised some of the samples didn’t contain any avocado oil,” said Wang.

The 2023 study

Green and Wang completed a followup study where they analyzed 36 samples of private label avocado oil, and found that 31% tested pure and 36% were as high quality as advertised. “We found that low-cost products indicate a higher probability for adulteration, but high cost didn’t guarantee purity or quality,” said Wang.

Wang and Green also found chemical markers that retailers can use to determine the quality of the products from different suppliers. “This study demonstrates that although progress is being made in standard development since our first market study in 2020, there are still issues with purity in avocado oil and these issues extend significantly into private label oils,” Wang said.

Read More: Consumption Of This Oil Is Linked to Dementia Mortality

Avocado brands to buy

In the 2020 study, the researchers found two brands that were pure and nonoxidized: Chosen Foods and Marianne’s Avocado Oil. Additionally, CalPur was the purest and freshest among those in the virgin grade. 

Keep in mind, this is a relatively new product compared to things like chocolate or mayonnaise, which have “standards of identity” from the FDA. These are basic food standards that the products must uphold in order to be permitted to be sold to consumers. The standards are intended to protect consumers from misleading labels and inferior products as seen from this research. However, until the FDA puts standards in place, it falls onto individuals to ensure they are purchasing quality oil.

How to tell if your avocado oil is rancid

Fresh and authentic virgin avocado oil should taste buttery and grassy. Virgin oil looks green, while refined oil is light yellow in color. When it goes rancid, it will smell stale like playdough.

Remember, even good oil can go rancid due to aging or exposure to heat or light. Therefore, don’t buy this oil in bulk if you won’t use it within a reasonable amount of time. Plus, it would be best if you stored it in a cool, dark location instead of warm areas such as next to the stove. Instead of relying on the “best before date” look for oils with the latest harvest/production time.

Future FDA standards

Wang is working to develop ways to detect adulterated avocado oil, as well as testing samples to see how time and storage affect quality. She is also encouraging the FDA to establish standards of identity for this item. Since the publication of the 2020 study, researchers, industry leaders, and government agencies formed the Avocado Oil Expert Group in collaboration with the American Oil Chemists’ Society to discuss this very topic. 

“I’m very optimistic for the future of the avocado oil industry,” Wang said. “It’s a high-value product with high consumer demand, similar to what I saw with olive oil 10 years ago. Olive oil quality and purity have improved significantly, which is where I see avocado oil going, if we can establish fair standards and eliminate fraudulent products.”

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