Food giants PepsiCo and Kraft Heinz are facing scrutiny in Texas over claims that products marketed as avocado oil contain cheaper oils, a development that follows a university study exposing widespread adulteration in the market.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched the investigation this week after a study from the University of California, Davis, found that 89% of processed foods claiming to be made with avocado oil contained other oils. The attorney general has requested more information from Siete Foods, Primal Kitchen, and Chosen Foods as part of the probe.
The investigation targets brands within the “better-for-you” category that have surged in popularity as consumers seek alternatives to seed oils. Paxton’s office is looking into whether companies violated state laws by misleading consumers and fraudulently mislabeling products. The probe is also positioned as a check on the broader “Make America Healthy Again” movement, which frequently criticizes the use of seed oils.
Officials indicated that more companies may be subpoenaed as the inquiry continues.
The UC Davis study tested a range of products and found significant discrepancies between labels and ingredients. In their analysis, 93% of chips, 71% of mayonnaises, and 100% of salad dressings labeled as authentic avocado oil contained other oils. This contrasts sharply with olive oil products, where only one out of 20 failed the study’s purity test.
Brands included in the testing pool are the same companies currently under subpoena, along with others such as Hershey’s Lesser Evil, Utz-owned Boulder Canyon, and Tostitos made with avocado oil under PepsiCo’s Simply line. The researchers noted that many of the brands whose products failed may not be aware they are using adulterated oil, suggesting the issue likely lies with suppliers rather than the manufacturers themselves.
Consumers are increasingly paying a premium for products made with avocado oil or olive oil. It is a straightforward business reality: if a customer pays more for a specific ingredient, they expect that ingredient to be present in the product. When supply chains are fragmented, ensuring that a single drop of the expensive oil is not diluted with cheaper alternatives becomes a logistical nightmare for any company.
“Consumers are increasingly paying a premium for products made with avocado oil or olive oil,” lead author Selina Wang, professor of cooperative extension in the UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology, said in a statement. “They deserve to get what they pay for and food manufacturers deserve confidence that the ingredients they purchase from suppliers are authentic.”
Primal Kitchen, the better-for-you pantry staple brand bought by Kraft Heinz for $200 million in 2018, said in a statement posted to social media that it takes the concerns raised by the UC Davis study “very seriously.”
The study also highlighted the broader trend of food acquisitions within the health-conscious sector. The purchase of a better-for-you pantry staple brand by a major conglomerate often signals a shift in market trends, yet it does not guarantee that complex supply chains will be free from quality control issues.
