A new study in the journal Food Control shows that the avocado oil you purchased may not be 100% pure avocado oil. Like with olive oil the standards are not widely regulated and some comapnies are ripping off health-conscious customers. Scientists analyzed 22 different kinds of commercially available avocado oil to find that 15 had gone rancid before their sell-by date, while six were likely cut with large quantities of cheaper oils.
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In three instances, bottles labeled as avocado oil actually contained 100 percent soybean oil.
The Counter
The study found that many of the oils labeled extra virgin and refined were adulterated with other oils, and 82% of oils went bad before their expiration date, indicating they were of poor quality. Three out of the 22 oils tested were almost 100% adulterated with other oils, like soybean oil. Co-author of the study, Selina Wang said some adulteration was expected but not at such a high level.
When an oil is exposed to oxygen, peroxides and other oxidation products form, thereby giving the oil undesirable odors and flavors. While not as conspicuous as the FFA values, the trend toward high oxidation was also evident. In other words, many of the oils were rancid well before their “best by” date.
The Avocado Oil Fraud
Oil is considered authentic when no other additives or oils are added, and the contents of the oil match the label. Oil quality is determined by the extraction process, the quality of the raw food, storage of the oil, and the hydrolysis of the fruit and oxidation of the oil. Many of the oils tested were of low quality. This could explain some of the quality issues as this oil may have improper storage or extreme processing conditions, and the fruit used to make the oil could potentially be rotten or damaged.
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Healthy levels of free fatty acidity (FFA) for avocado oil is between 0.1 and 0.055%. Three of the 22 oils sampled had FFA around 2.5%, with extra virgin oils having FFA levels ranging from 0.03%-2.69%, the average being 1.31%. The avocado oils tested also showed high levels of vitamin E content which can suggest that soybean oil may have been added.
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