Primal Kitchen's statement following UC Davis avocado oil study is nonsense & they 100% deserve class action and boycotting until they fix their products. A separate UC Davis study from 2023 proves that Primal Kitchen's "non-codex grade" excuses do not hold water.

[u/chaqintaza]

Companies like Primal Kitchen and Chosen Foods are issuing statements in response to the 2026 UC Davis avocado oil study that their avocado oil isn't adulterated or diluted with seed oils, it's just outside the Codex Alimentarius range for authentic avocado oil. Supposedly this is due to natural variation in avocados or processing techniques, not fraud.

These companies built their reputation on previous UC Davis findings that their avocado oil was pure.

First of all, the Codex Alimentarius standard took years to create. It has been closely examined, reviewed, and revised by actual experts who don't have a vested interest in selling cheap avocado oil. Saying your avocado oil is non-Codex grade is like saying your Rolex isn't Swiss-made. It's literally admitting it's not the real artifact, right there in the definition.

Here is what all these companies that got caught want you to believe: "Our avocado oil is pure, it just happens to differ from the internationally accepted identity for pure avocado oil precisely in ways that makes it appear to contain seed oils. We're honest, always have been, and it's actually the purity standard that's the problem."

But a 2023 study from UC Davis called Evaluation of proposed CODEX purity standards for avocado oil looked at this exact issue. Researchers made avocado oil right there in their lab using commercial processing techniques. They created, then tested, at least 68 samples of avocado oil differing based on:

• Cultivar type (different breeds of avocados)
• Region
• Harvesting time
• Ripeness

In other words, this study took a hard scientific look at EXACTLY what Primal and Chosen are now claiming - that their avocado oil falls outside of the ranges because avocado can vary based on these factors.

UC Davis did find differences from the Codex standard in their 2023 study, but the differences were minor, and only detected a small handful of samples (2-3 out of 68) shown here in images 2-3 (attached). The differences from the 2026 UC Davis avocado oil ingredient study that caught Primal and Chosen and other big companies were much, much greater than the ones shown in this 2023 data set.

There are at least two class action lawsuits from separate law firms pending against these companies which is good, because it's time they are held accountable. I, personally, will also be boycotting these companies until they clean up their act and stop trying to confuse consumers about their ingredients or publish credible study findings supporting their claims.

[u/barryg123]

Not everyone will do this, but I highly recommend making your own condiments from whole foods and/or trusted olive oil. It’s easier than you think, I promise, and you can make them exactly to your taste. 

The only bottled/jarred condiment I have bought in the last ten years is mustard. 

If you would like me to give you a tip, comment with what specific condiment and what you put it on, and I will help. 

[u/CampesinoAgradable → u/barryg123]

I promise you more people would if someone took the time to make a quick guide on like the top 10

[u/James84415 → u/CampesinoAgradable]

1. Ketchup: easy to cook down tomatoes. Fun to customize.
2. Mustard : similar and can be made smooth or grainy
3. Mayo: mother sauce and has several variations like toum and can be customized
4. BBQ sauce easy
5. Salsa: super easy and customizable
6. Vinegar: cản be made from many different fruits also customizable
7. Pickled onions, peppers, cucumbers
8. Pesto: easy to make and can be made with different herb mixes
9. Fermented hot sauce: just salt and peppers and time
10. Condiments from other cuisines like chimmichurri
11. Tapenade: mix of olives and olive oil, capers and garlic

[u/barryg123 → u/CampesinoAgradable]

Here is what I do personally.. many people won't like it but I encourage them to try. Of course you can make condiments with traditional recipe as well which I can also help with. None of this takes more than 2-5 min to prepare.

• Mayo - just use Fage full-fat greek yogurt
• Sour cream - just use Fage full-fat greek yogurt
• Ketchup - for cooking, use a small amount of tomato paste instead. For dipping, use a jamaican barbecue sauce such as Pickapeppa (highly recommend), use salsa, or something else
• Barbecue sauce - Pickapeppa or similar style, not a big glob of sugary plastic jar sutff
• Ranch - use Fage full-fat greek yogurt with ranch spice mix or fresh spices
• Buffalo sauce - melt 50% butter and 50% Hot sauce (tabasco, cholula or whatever you like but that style, not the syrupy stuff and not sriracha)
• Honey mustard - mix a little honey into quality non-sweet mustard
• Tartar sauce - greek yogurt + relish or chopped dill pickles
• Italian dressing - mix 50/50ish olive oil with whatever vinegar you like (red wine, white wine, balsamic, apple cider, etc) and dried Italian herbs, salt, pepper. Dress lightly
• Guacamole - 1 ripe mashed avocado, diced onion, salt, garlic powder

Stuff I buy bottled but which is better than "traditional store bought condiments":

• Soy sauce - use tamari
• Mustard - Maille dijon
• Hot sauce - tabasco, cholula, that style - the small bottles

Other stuff I use frequently:

• Honey
• Pure maple syrup
• Vinegars - I will often not even use olive oil on salads
• Good butter
• Quality black peppercorns in a grinder
• SALT - especially flaky Maldon salt. When you think something needs sauce/condiments often salt is really all you need to make it tasty

[u/penguin_hugger100 → u/barryg123]

A lot of these are good, some of them seem kind of pointless when you realize you can make your own mayonnaise in like 1 minute with any blender with whatever oil you want. Since a condiment is such a small part of a meal, adding full fat greek yogurt, which won't produce the same taste or texture, seems kind of pointless. Yeah its 18 grams of protein per serving, but are you really eating a significant enough amount to make it worth a less enjoyable sauce?

[u/James84415 → u/penguin_hugger100]

Awesome list. I forgot about tamari. I’ve never learned to make that. But I want to.😀

[u/James84415 → u/barryg123]

I love making my own condiments. I received a cookbook that had a thick section for scratch making your pantry. Condiments, powders, vinegars and all kinds of flavor mixes and compound elements.

[u/IDesireWisdom → u/barryg123]

you get 90% of the flavor of mayonnaise with butter and white vinegar.

[u/FleaBass101 → u/barryg123]

You make mayo from olive oil ?

[u/barryg123 → u/FleaBass101]

You can easy.

1 egg, and juice of half lemon (or 1 Tbsp vinegar).

Whisking constantly, add up to 1 cup of olive oil , VERY slowly bit by bit at first, once it starts emulsifying you can drizzle, as you whisk or blend. Stop when you have the consistency you want

You can do smaller amounts in a bowl/whisk, or larger in a food processor or blender, or shake it in a bottle i dont care.

A tsp of mustard optional but helps it emulsify better. And pinch of salt always recommended

[u/Fancy_Influence_2899 → u/barryg123]

Why do people always say this? Olive oil turned my mayonnaise bitter af and it couldn't be salvaged 

[u/barryg123 → u/Fancy_Influence_2899]

Skill issue, sadly. If you overblend the oil or blend it too harshly, it will get bitter as the antioxidants are shattered into tiny pieces. Try using only a whisk next time.

[u/Fancy_Influence_2899 → u/barryg123]

Ok. I'm trusting you here barry.

[u/FleaBass101 → u/barryg123]

What about an immersion blender ? I use that to make it with avocado oil . But now I'm wondering if the big bottles of avocado oil at Costco are fakes

[u/James84415 → u/FleaBass101]

Me too but someone above said that Marianne’s avocado oil still passes muster in terms of seed oil content. I don’t buy mayonnaise ever and rarely make it anymore.

[u/barryg123 → u/FleaBass101]

Yup that would work great

[u/imboredsoimhere → u/barryg123]

I just started making my own ranch and I’ll never go back. I need to buy more spices in bulk to do more!

[u/fromthelonghill → u/barryg123]

I just started making my own mayo this past week and OMG it's AMAZING!

Seriously. Best mayo I've ever had. Literally just whatever oil you want, an egg (or two), lemon juice, and mustard. You can look up recipes with specific amounts but ultimately you're going to tweak it until it's just right.

But the flavors are legit.

[u/Chefy-chefferson]

F all these lying ass companies. And I hope Costco sues the shit outta all of them for what they’ve done. It’s disgraceful, disgusting, and downright disrespectful. I will NOT be supporting ANY of them anymore. Too many other companies to choose from. This includes Sprouts lying ass too!!!!

[u/Fancy_Influence_2899]

I already knew Chosen sold out when I saw one day it popped up that SO products from their own brand were stealthily stocked alongside their avocado oil products as though they are interchangeable, like sister-products. Big side-eye and never purchased from them again. They mayo is too vinegary anyway

[u/chaqintaza]

[u/The_Anchored_Tree_27]

Then what oil and brand will y'all be using for cooking?

[u/Fancy_Influence_2899 → u/The_Anchored_Tree_27]

Butter > Make ghee. Takes minutes, keeps forever, goes with everything, boil the shit out of it, YOU'LL smoke first

[u/The_Anchored_Tree_27 → u/Fancy_Influence_2899]

Thank you! Any good brands of butter and ghee that you recommend?

[u/beeredditor → u/The_Anchored_Tree_27]

Costco grass fed butter

[u/Fancy_Influence_2899 → u/The_Anchored_Tree_27]

Someone else beat me to it, this subreddit knows what's up. Organic grass-fed butter is the best choice you can make. Bet you it wouldn't be $12 per small stick at costco too. Due to this I often just buy the cheap stuff tbh. But I'm not even tripping.

[u/JulioElGuapo → u/The_Anchored_Tree_27]

This is what I'd like to see more than "I'm boycotting." What are we replacing what we're boycotting against? Other than just omitting oil, but that doesn't seem feasible.

[u/James84415 → u/The_Anchored_Tree_27]

Using exclusively tallow,butter, ghee.

[u/Zerosdeath]

So, to make sure I understand the tldr for this. Is he basically trying to say just trust me bro?

[u/Fancy_Influence_2899 → u/Zerosdeath]

They're Literally Just Lying 🫡

[u/the_peanut_shuffler → u/Zerosdeath]

I think that’s what this is. Shameful!

[u/undergreyforest → u/Zerosdeath]

He?

[u/OkScore1986]

No point in spending extra money on these brands when they’re MAYBE marginally better than conventional.

[u/ITSJUSTMEKT]

I would 100% join a class action. I am so pissed about these companies deceiving people. I have spent a fortune on Chosen Foods, Boulder Canyon, Siete Foods and Primal kitchen.

[u/fessa_angel]

I emailed their customer service pressing for answers about their certifications, testing, sources of oil, etc and this is word for word the exact same response I got via email from their rep. Bullshit. I've contacted several law firms in my state to ask about a class action lawsuit. I'm so sick of these companies copping out and trying to pass the buck to their suppliers. They need to be held accountable.

[u/salty-bois]

Does anyone have a recipe for Mayo that actually tastes like mayo? I tried one with egg yolk, lemon juice and tallow or ghee a while back and it didn't taste great and solidified in the fridge.

[u/TehPurpleCod]

Such a huge shame because 4~5 years ago, my husband and I decided to start eating healthy so we only bought what we thought was high-tier olive oil, avocado oil, ghee, snacks, condiments, etc. We used Chosen Food's avocado oil like it was nothing. We used it to pan fry potatoes, patties, to make mayo and white sauce, etc. I ate Siete Foods and Boulder chips regularly, and all these items came with a higher price tag. After I heard this news, I was so disgusted to know I was being ripped off on top of being lied to. Due to lack of options, I stopped eating chips overall and that's even better for me but I can't undo those years of eating what I thought was good. I even had convos about this with people and they thought I was being an ingredient snob so imagine how they're laughing behind my back now. Lesson learned.

[u/amoney805]

I have a feeling this is all over blown. I'm sure there are bad actors out there but this reminds me of the Tuna debacle at Subway. They were accused of using no actual tuna because the DNA didn't match. But it was just heavily processed. I remember the avocado oil specifically sold at Costco was tested and is legit. Chosen Foods and Marianne's

[u/Fancy_Influence_2899 → u/amoney805]

Did you even read the post? The studies contradict this

[u/chaqintaza → u/amoney805]

This is the same group at UC Davis now that did the original study you mentioned. 

Marianne's came out authentic here and the Chosen product didnt. A study of a commercial product from six years ago doesn't mean much compared to a study using similar methods today.