Avocado Oil Chips Lawsuit: Most Tested Chips Were Blended Oils

On July 15, 2026, UC Davis researchers reported that 48 of 54 samples of processed foods labeled with avocado oil (89 percent) contained oil that did not match avocado oil, with soybean and sunflower oil among the likely substitutes. Among chips, 93 percent failed. In August 2026 a proposed class action was filed against Utz over two avocado-oil chip lines.

Key takeaways:

• A July 15, 2026 UC Davis study published in Applied Food Research found that 89 percent of samples of foods labeled with avocado oil, including 93 percent of chip samples, did not match the chemical profile of avocado oil.
• On August 20, 2026, a proposed class action lawsuit, Mayo v. Utz Quality Foods, was filed in federal court over two avocado-oil chip lines; the claims are unproven allegations.
• Every product in the study declared a single oil, so an "and/or" oil statement does not explain the results.
• The FDA has no standard of identity for avocado oil; the international Codex standard for named vegetable oils added avocado oil in November 2024, and that is the reference the researchers tested against.

What happened in the UC Davis avocado oil study?

On July 15, 2026, a research team at the University of California, Davis led by food science researcher Selina Wang published a study titled "Authenticity of avocado and olive oils used as ingredients in commercially processed foods" in the scientific journal Applied Food Research. The team bought chips, mayonnaises and salad dressings from California stores and online retailers, each declaring exactly one oil, and checked whether the fat inside matched the oil on the label, as described by UC Davis News.

The researchers measured fatty-acid and sterol profiles in 54 samples from 27 avocado-oil products (two production lots each) against the Codex ranges for avocado oil. Forty-eight of the 54 samples (89 percent) were inconsistent with avocado oil: 93 percent of chip samples, 71 percent of mayonnaise samples and 100 percent of dressing samples. By contrast, only 1 of 20 olive-oil samples failed. The classification allowed for natural variation, so a sample had to deviate on several markers in the same direction to be called inconsistent.

The study identified widespread blending with commodity seed oils, primarily soybean oil and sunflower oil, which have significantly different sterol and lipid fingerprints. The UC Davis release did not name brands for the failing samples. Coverage followed quickly, including from Food Ingredients First.

On August 20, 2026, a proposed consumer class action lawsuit titled Mayo v. Utz Quality Foods (D.N.J. No. 2:26-cv-05126) was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The complaint centers on products such as Boulder Canyon Avocado Oil Classic Sea Salt chips and Good Health Kettle Style 100% Avocado Oil chips, alleging that the company deceived consumers regarding the purity and composition of the cooking oils used. The claims in the complaint remain legal allegations, and the defendant has not been found liable by any court.

What changed for snack food oil testing?

The same lab had earlier found quality and purity problems in bottled avocado oil. What is new is evidence that the problem reaches processed foods, where the premium oil is the selling point on the front of the bag.

The researchers extracted the fat from each finished product and compared its fatty acids and sterols with the Codex reference ranges for avocado oil. When manufacturers blend in commodity oils such as soybean or sunflower oil, the ratio of linoleic acid and specific phytosterols shifts in ways that standard lipid chromatography can quantify.

The findings demonstrated that front-of-pack claims do not necessarily mirror what enters commercial fry vats. Because culinary lipids degrade during commercial frying, determining exact purity in finished chips presents analytical hurdles, which is one reason the study's criteria allowed a margin before calling a sample inconsistent.

Who is affected by the avocado oil snack lawsuits?

This development directly impacts snack consumers, specialty food manufacturers, and retailers carrying pantry staples marketed around premium oils. Shoppers paying a significant retail premium for specialty potato chips, tortilla chips, and condiments are most immediately affected, as they often purchase these products specifically to avoid commodity vegetable oils.

For manufacturers, the lesson is that a supplier's purity certificate is only as good as the testing behind it.

For other snack labels, see Are Stacy's Pita Chips Clean? Every Ingredient, Scanned, which walks through an "and/or" oil declaration.

What it means for shoppers navigating chip aisles

For shoppers standing in the snack aisle, the UC Davis findings underscore that front-of-package claims require careful verification on the back ingredient panel. A front-of-bag claim stating "made with avocado oil" is legally distinct from, and far weaker than, a declaration of "100% avocado oil." The ingredient list, which must name every oil in descending order by weight, tells you whether avocado oil is the only oil.

Furthermore, shoppers must watch for flexible labeling under Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, specifically 21 CFR 101.4(b)(14). This federal rule permits snack makers to declare fats using "and/or" language, such as "contains one or more of the following: sunflower oil, canola oil, and/or avocado oil." When an "and/or" declaration appears, the bag may contain any of the listed oils. The products in the UC Davis study did not use this: each declared a single oil.

To navigate these labels in the supermarket, consumers should apply three practical rules:

• Read the entire ingredient list: Do not rely on front banners; inspect the oil source declared on the back panel.
• Check for "and/or" disclosures: If the label uses "and/or" fat grouping, the maker can substitute cheaper seed oils at will.
• Know the limits: the label cannot prove what is in the bag; only lab testing can.

The background of avocado oil adulteration

How the snack industry arrived at this point reflects economic incentives paired with regulatory gaps. Demand for avocado oil in chips, dressings and mayonnaise has grown with interest in monounsaturated fats and in avoiding seed oils. Avocado oil costs considerably more than soybean, canola or sunflower oil, which creates an economic incentive to cut it.

Under FDA rules, food labels are governed by 21 CFR 101.4, which mandates that ingredients must be declared by their common or usual names in descending order of predominance by weight. When a food lists avocado oil as the sole cooking fat, using undeclared cheaper vegetable oils constitutes misbranding and economic adulteration under federal food law.

The FDA has no standard of identity for avocado oil (or for olive oil, which has only voluntary USDA grade standards), unlike foods such as mayonnaise. The international Codex standard for named vegetable oils added avocado oil in November 2024, giving testers a reference range, but Codex standards are not US law.

Analytical complexity has also delayed oversight. High frying temperatures degrade volatile compounds and alter fatty acids, making chemical testing far more difficult in fried chips than in raw, unheated bottled oil.

What to watch next in avocado oil regulation

The proposed class action Mayo v. Utz Quality Foods in the District of New Jersey is at an early stage; no court has ruled on the claims.

Watch for brand responses, such as published oil-testing results or reformulated labels, and for more suits built on the same study.

A US standard for avocado oil would give regulators a clearer test, but none has been proposed.

Scientific evidence has clear limitations: researchers cannot test every production lot from every manufacturing facility, and commercial testing of finished fried snacks does not reveal whether oil blending occurred at the refinery, the ingredient broker, or the final manufacturing line. Current testing also cannot establish whether individual consumer packaged goods companies knowingly substituted seed oils or received adulterated drums from raw commodity suppliers. What you can do is read the oil line, and scan the ingredient list with Aurascan to see what each ingredient is.