82% Faked Or Rancid!
I have been on a recent kick of finding fake foods and writing about it on my website, to help put the word out and alert people that their hard-earned money you thought you were spending on healthy food might be actually hurting your health. This is simply because they substitute rancid oil and/or other low-quality oil with fewer health benefits. So, I will give some tips on how to buy real avocado oil & avoid fake avocado oil in this post.
A study at UC Davis finds 82 Percent of Avocado Oil Rancid or Mixed With Other Oils! You can read more about this here, UC Davis Study. Some of the oil tested, tested for having 0% of avocado oil in them in this study. Complete fakery.
This Should Be A Crime
This is nothing short of stealing your money. I wish some sort of government agency would enforce to make sure we get what we pay for and avoid companies that substitute cheap unhealthy oils then charge a premium price.
The reality of the problem is that no one is going after these companies that sell fake foods.
Serious Health Risks From Substituted Oils
This could potentially kill someone! As often is the case peanut oil is cheaper and often substituted in place of more expensive healthy. So a person with a peanut allergy could be ingesting a peanut product and not even know it.
Very dangerous and potentially life threatening.
Olive Oil Is Faked Too – And A Lot
Before we get into the brands that you can trust to have what they say in them, I want to address another important oil that is highly faked too. The percentage of fake Olive Oil ranges anywhere from 50% up to a whopping 80%. Wow…I know, more fakeness.
I wrote another article dealing with this problem and suggest a great company you can buy from, check it out here, How To Tell If Olive Oil Is Real.
I also wrote another article on the 5 Most Faked Foods & How To Avoid Them.
Why Is Avocado Oil So Good For You?
Basically, it is a really healthy monounsaturated fat, that is very heart-healthy. It is low in LDL (bad cholesterol) and high in HDL (good cholesterol). LDL is linked to strokes, heart diseases, and artery diseases. It has a high amount of antioxidants and contains oleic acid (omega 9 fatty acid).
It also has a high smoke points so it is very popular for use as a cooking oil. Avocado oil can be rubbed on skin to improve dryness.
Some Tips On Telling Real From Fake
Some tips on avoiding getting scammed.
- Even the best avocado oil can become rancid with time. Be sure to check harvest or production date, hopefully on the bottle to guarantee freshness.
- By using your sense of smell you can probably tell that the oil has gone rancid as it begins to smell and taste like play-dough. You remember what that tasted like as a kid, right?
- Virgin avocado oil is green.
- Refined avocado oil is light yellow as well as clear.
- Taste is another good indicator but in general look for grassy, buttery, and a slight mushroom taste.
Watch Out For Food Items Too That Are Advertised As Cooked in In Avocado Oil.
Brands That Are Actually Real Avocado Oil
Despite all the different brands on the market only two brands test 100% pure, not rancid, not expired on the UC Davis Study (mentioned above). Keep in mind it was only two brands! Dang, it would be hard to pick the right brand without knowing about the study.
Chosen Foods – This can be purchased at Costco and other stores but also off of Amazon. If you find this information helpful please click the links as I make a small commission through my links. This is a great way to support my website, so I can continue to bring good information to bear. I don’t have a Costco near me so I just buy avocado oil off of Amazon and I have been very happy with the product I get.
Marianne’s Harvest Brands – This can be purchased at Costco.
Any thoughts or questions I would love to hear them below. Thanks!
This is very interesting. I hadn’t really even considered that food grade oils would be “padded” with other types of oils. I have heard that a lot of essential oils do this, but would have thought there would be a higher standard for foods. But, a lot of things are unregulated, and a lot of companies can pretty much get away with murder these days, especially if they are big enough to hire a good lawyer.
Yes, you really have to research and look more closely at everything. People and companies are always looking to save money with cheaper inferior products. Nobody else is adequately looking after the consumer on products, and especially food that we consume.
I have never even heard of avocado oil until now. It is such a shame that anyone would sell such terrible, and maybe even harmful, products to consumers.
Would refined be better for you than virgin? I would think so, but I don’t know much about oils. I also never knew that stores could sell rancid oils. 🙁
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. The next time I buy oil, I will know to look at the date before I buy it, and not just assume that it’s good.
It is pretty disgusting for companies to be so shady in their practices, just to make more of a profit.
I believe virgin would be better for you than refined, as refined uses solvents to extract and virgin is simply pressed. You are getting a more natural product when it is pressed, as compared to refined.
Glad to help Haze!