You Paid Extra for Avocado Oil. But Did You Get It?

You Paid Extra for Avocado Oil. But Did You Get It?

A new UC Davis study found that most avocado-oil foods tested contained other oils. One of the biggest problems showed up in a food that is incredibly easy to make yourself: mayonnaise.

You’ve probably seen the explosion of avocado oil products over the last few years.

Avocado oil chips.

Avocado oil salad dressing.

Avocado oil mayonnaise.

And people are willing to pay more for them.

Why?

Because a lot of us are specifically trying to avoid seed oils used in processed food.

So we flip the jar around.

We read the ingredients.

It says avocado oil.

We pay the extra two or three bucks.

And we assume that’s what we’re getting.

Apparently, that assumption may be a problem.

What UC Davis Found

Researchers at UC Davis recently tested 54 processed foods marketed as containing avocado oil.

The products were purchased in 2025 and 2026 and included chips, mayonnaise, and salad dressing.

48 of the 54 products contained other oils.

That’s 89%.

It gets worse when you break it down.

93% of the chips failed.

100% of the salad dressings failed.

And the one that really caught my attention:

71% of the mayonnaise samples contained other oils.

The researchers weren’t simply looking at whether the word “avocado” appeared on the front of the package.

These were products where avocado oil was supposed to be the oil being used.

They analyzed fatty acids and sterols—the chemical fingerprints of different oils—to see whether the oil actually matched avocado oil.

And most of the products didn’t.

UC Davis even allowed a 10% margin for natural differences caused by things like avocado variety and growing region.

They still had an 89% failure rate.

Does That Mean These Companies Are Intentionally Lying?

Not necessarily.

And I think this part is important.

UC Davis researcher Selina Wang said the adulteration may actually be happening farther up the supply chain.

Food companies often buy oils through brokers and outside suppliers.

So a company could theoretically believe it is buying avocado oil when the oil coming into its facility has already been adulterated.

That doesn’t change what ends up in your food.

But there’s a difference between saying:

“This product wasn’t what the label claimed.”

and saying:

“This company intentionally put something else in the jar.”

We don’t know that. Yet.

What we do know is that consumers are paying a premium for avocado oil products and, in this study, most of them weren’t getting what they thought they were buying.

And This Isn’t the First Time

UC Davis has been raising concerns about avocado oil for years.

In 2020, researchers tested bottled avocado oils and found 82% were either rancid or mixed with other oils.

They followed that with another study of private-label avocado oils in 2023 and again found major problems.

So now we have concerns about the oil in the bottle AND the oil being used to manufacture processed foods.

That brings me to mayonnaise.

Why Are We Even Buying This Stuff?

Seriously.

Mayonnaise is probably one of the easiest things in your refrigerator to make.

People look at mayonnaise like it’s some mysterious food manufactured in a giant factory.

It’s basically:

Egg.

Oil.

Acid.

Salt.

That’s about it.

And if you have an immersion blender, you can make it in about a minute.

Simple Homemade Avocado Oil Mayo

• 1 large egg

• 1 cup avocado oil

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Put everything into a tall container just slightly wider than the head of your immersion blender.

Put the blender all the way at the bottom.

Turn it on and don’t move it at first.

You’ll see the mayonnaise begin forming at the bottom.

Once most of it has emulsified, slowly pull the blender upward.

That’s it.

You made mayonnaise.

No factory.

No mystery ingredients.

And most importantly, you put the oil in yourself.

If raw eggs are a concern for you or someone in your household, use pasteurized eggs. If you like a specific brand’s taste, I’ll link to some of my mayo dupes at the bottom and my new protein mayo alternative.

But You Still Have to Trust the Bottle

There is one obvious catch.

Making your own mayonnaise doesn’t solve the problem if the bottle of avocado oil you start with isn’t authentic either.

That’s why I’d buy avocado oil from a company with a good track record for purity and authenticity rather than simply buying whatever bottle happens to say “avocado oil” on the front.

Because that’s really the bigger lesson from all of this.

A label is not the same thing as verification.

“Made with avocado oil” sounds healthy.

“Natural” sounds healthy.

“Clean” sounds healthy.

None of those words magically tell you what’s actually in the food.

My Bottom Line

I’m not going to stop using avocado oil because of this study.

Quite the opposite.

Avocado oil can be a great cooking oil.

But I’m becoming less interested in paying companies a premium to put avocado oil into foods I can easily make myself.

Mayonnaise takes about a minute.

Salad dressing takes about a minute.

You don’t need a food company to make either one.

And when you make them yourself, you decide what goes into the jar.

We spend a lot of time trying to find better processed foods.

Sometimes the easier answer is to just stop buying the processed food.

I hope this helps. I put some mayo videos you may be interested in below if you missed them.  Also, some great stuff from Primal Nutrition!

Stay healthy,
Victor
Primal Nutrition / Southern Keto

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