S2E21: Can Food Labels Lie?

You read the label. You paid more for the healthier option. You chose the chips, mayonnaise, or salad dressing made with avocado oil because you were intentionally avoiding cheaper, highly processed oils.

But what if what's listed on the package is not actually what is in the food?

A recent UC Davis study published in Applied Food Research tested processed foods that listed avocado oil as their only edible oil. Researchers analyzed 54 samples representing two production lots of 27 products purchased from California stores and online retailers during 2025 and 2026. They found that 48 of the 54 samples, or 89%, had an oil composition inconsistent with authentic avocado oil.

The results included:

93% of the avocado oil chips tested

71% of the avocado oil mayonnaises tested

100% of the avocado oil salad dressings tested

The results raise serious questions about ingredient sourcing, label accuracy, supply-chain accountability, and whether consumers are receiving what they paid for. Read the UC Davis report.

In this episode of The Body Wisdom Podcast, Jamie Belz is joined by fellow FNTP, Heather McDonough, to talk about navigating a food system filled with misleading health claims, lengthy ingredient lists, questionable oils, hidden sugar, artificial colors, and products designed to appear healthier than they are.

Heather also takes listeners behind the scenes of Eat Gangster, the food company she co-founded to create baking mixes for people following therapeutic or restorative diets. She explains the time, expense, and responsibility involved in sourcing high-quality ingredients, testing raw materials for contaminants such as lead, managing supply-chain disruptions, and holding products to standards that may be more stringent than the minimum required by regulators.

Jamie and Heather also discuss:

Why "healthy," "natural," "keto-friendly," and "gluten-free" do not automatically mean nutrient-dense