Avocado oil is an increasingly popular alternative to seed oils and butter for home chefs. Food manufacturers are also introducing avocado oil into many products; for some, it’s the key ingredient and differentiator. That’s made a recent report noting low-quality or adulterated products alarming – when avocado oil is the selling point, what happens when the product doesn’t have it?
What Is Avocado Oil?
Avocado oil is a pressed oil made from avocado pulp, not its seeds. It offers heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, antioxidants, and vitamin E. It’s a nutrient-dense option for cooking and is commonly used as an alternative to olive oil, canola oil, and other seed oils.
What Does Avocado Oil Taste Like?
Unrefined avocado oil has a rich, buttery flavor that carries plenty of the fruit’s nutrients. Refined avocado oil is typically heated and filtered to remove sediment. This results in a tempered flavor profile, but it’s easier to cook with due to its higher smoke point.
Cooking with Avocado Oil at Home
Avocado is a stellar substitute for olive oil in the kitchen and is ideal for roasting, grilling, and frying. Its high smoke point makes it forgiving on most meat dishes, especially when experimenting. Of course, its unique flavor also puts a neat twist on familiar dishes. You’ll also find unrefined avocado oil perfect for dressings, marinades, or topping off your favorite salad.
Is Avocado Oil Good for You?
For most individuals, avocado oil is a nutrient-packed alternative to olive oil and seed oils, though many of those have health benefits, too. Avocado oil contains vitamin E, lutein, and oleic acid.
The downside to avocado oil? It is calorically dense: 8.8 calories per gram – a tablespoon is roughly 1ensurelories. Still, when used in moderation, it’s a great choice for most households. Perhaps the biggest disadvantage for avocado oil is that it is prone to fraud.
Avocado Oil Controversy: Food Fraud Issues
There is substantial regulation and inspection to issue that most consumer avocado oil products purchased for home cooking are actually avocado oil. That’s not to say food fraud isn’t an issue – it is, and avocado oil, like honey, cheese, and many other highly commoditized products, is prone to dilution and adulteration.
The most recent study instead focuses on brands marketing products as made with avocado oil. Chips, mayo, and other products demand higher retail prices due to perceived (and largely proven) health claims.
What the Study Found
UC Davis researchers found that 48 out of 54 avocado oil products actually contained canola oil, safflower oil, and other cheaper oils.
The findings are certainly surprising:
- Every single salad dressing failed the researchers’ test
- 93% of avocado oil chips contained other oils
- 71% of mayos with avocado oil
Conversely, only one product in twenty touting olive oil as its marquee ingredient failed the tests, likely the result of decades of regulation on that ingredient.
Read More: The Best Plant-based Proteins to Add to Your Diet
Why It May Not Be Entirely the Brands’ Fault
To be clear, every food manufacturer is ultimately responsible for the quality of its product, and especially the origination and quality of its ingredients. However, brands rely heavily on the integrity of their suppliers. Third-party brokers are likely sourcing diluted avocado oil from irreputable suppliers. Without dedicated testing at least one point in the supply chain, food fraud is almost impossible to stop before it affects consumers.
Why We Care So Much
Consumers pay higher prices for quality foods, and they should get exactly what they’re paying for. Avocado oil-based mayonnaise, for example, commands roughly 65 to 67 cents per ounce, compared to only about 10 cents per ounce for conventional mayonnaise.
Protecting consumers from false health claims, made all the more visible with today’s “better-for-you” packaged foods, is ultimately the responsibility of suppliers, manufacturers, and retailers, and Oryana is committed to doing its part.
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