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About ConsumerLab.com


How Products Were Selected:

Products tested represent those commonly sold and/or available nationally in the U.S. ConsumerLab.com purchased products on the open market through retail stores, on-line retailers, and direct sales companies. Products were not accepted directly from manufacturers.

Testing Methods:

  1. Free acidity: By titration expressed as oleic acid (AOCS).
  2. Fatty acid composition: Fatty acid composition as determined by gas chromatography (AOCS).
  3. Peroxide value: A measure of avocado oil oxidation measured as milliequivalents of active oxygen per kg of oil by titration (AOCS).
Any product that did not initially achieve a Passing Score (below) for one or more of the above tests was sent to another independent laboratory to repeat testing for the criterion on which it did not pass.

Although not a consideration for passing, products were also evaluated for: total phenolic compounds (polyphenols) as gallic acid equivalents by UV (AOAC), and sensory (organoleptic) assessment for positive attributes and possible defects (this is subjective and based on the opinion of a single individual).

Identities of products were not disclosed to laboratories or tasters performing the testing.

ConsumerLab.com may modify or use other appropriate test methods if necessary to test special product formulations.

Passing Score:*

To be "Approved", a product had to meet the following requirements:
  1. Have free acidity values (as oleic acid) of not more than 5% for crude avocado oil and not more than 0.1% for refined avocado oil (JOINT FAO/WHO Codex Committee on Fats and Oils 2019).
  2. Have peroxide values of not more than 10 meq O2/kg for crude avocado oil and not more than 2 meq O2/kg for refined avocado oil (JOINT FAO/WHO Codex Committee on Fats and Oils 2019).
  3. Percent individual fatty acids determined by gas chromatography (New Zealand proposed avocado Trade Standards):
    • Myristic acid (C14:0) <0.03
    • Palmitic acid (C16:0) 10 - 25
    • Palmitoleic acid (C16:1) 2 - 8
    • Margaric acid (C17:0) <0.1
    • Heptadecanoic acid (cis C17:1) <0.1
    • Stearic acid (C18:0) 0.1 - 0.4
    • Oleic acid (C18:1) 60 - 80
    • Linoleic acid (C18:2) 7 - 20
    • Linolenic acid (C18:3) 0.2 - 1
    • Arachidic acid (C20:0) ≤0.1
    • Gadoleic acid (C20:1) ≤0.1
    • Behenic acid (C22:0) ≤0.1
* Passing scores allow for specific margins of technical error associated with each analysis. ConsumerLab.com reserves the right to disqualify a product at any time from passing its testing if it considers such product to display unacceptable variation in quality, present a safety risk or to provide misleading or inaccurate information in its labeling.

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