R&D RADIO: Oil Analytics, Seed Oils and Adulterated Avocado Oil with Dr. Selina Wang of UC Davis
In this episode of R&D Radio, host and food scientist Adam Yee sits down with Dr. Selina Wang, chemist and Professor of Cooperative Extension at the University of California, Davis, to talk about a recent study suggesting that many store-bought products made with avocado oil may not contain 100% avocado oil.
Dr. Wang is Faculty Director of the UC Davis Olive Center and an internationally recognized expert in edible oil quality, authenticity, and chemistry. Her early studies of supermarket olive oil helped inform California's olive oil standards adopted in 2014, and in 2020 her lab published the first comprehensive evaluation of commercial avocado oil quality and purity in the United States, revealing problems with oxidation and adulteration. Her team has since followed up with a study of private label brands and, most recently, products like chips, mayonnaise, and salad dressings.
Adam and Dr. Wang trade notes scientist to scientist, covering how oil chemists tell fresh from stale and pure from adulterated, what "seed oil" really means in academic circles versus marketing, how fatty acid and sterol fingerprints expose substitutions, and what brands using avocado oil can do right now to verify what they are buying.
Listen in as they discuss:
- What an edible oil chemist, or "fat chemist," actually studies when evaluating an oil
- How extra virgin and refined olive oil differ, and why oxidation and purity markers matter
- What "seed oil" means to chemists versus how the term is used in consumer marketing
- Why avocado oil has become a popular seed oil alternative despite costing roughly three times as much
- How UC Davis' three avocado oil studies expanded from bottled brands to private labels to finished products
- How oil is extracted from chips, mayonnaise, and dressings so it can be tested
- How fatty acid and sterol fingerprints reveal substitution with high oleic sunflower or safflower oil
- Why testing fatty acids alone can miss a carefully blended oil
- Why relying solely on a supplier's certificate of analysis can leave brands exposed
- Dr. Wang's practical advice for brands: test fatty acids and sterols, and treat suspiciously low prices as a red flag
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Avocado Oil Quality and Authenticity Workshop: Dr. Wang is hosting an in-person workshop at UC Davis on October 23rd covering her research, analytical methods, how to interpret a certificate of analysis, and a hands-on sensory evaluation.
Episode Links:
- Dr. Selina Wang LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/selinawangphd
- Dr. Selina Wang Instagram: @profselinawang
- UC Food Quality Lab Website: www.ucfoodquality.ucdavis.edu
- University of California, Davis LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/school/uc-davis
- Contact Dr. Wang directly: scwang@ucdavis.edu
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- Episode music by Super Fantastics
