Food Science and Technology

Study Finds 82 Percent of Avocado Oil Rancid or Mixed With Other Oils

Food Scientist Says Standards Needed to Protect Consumers and Industry

Consumer demand is rising for all things avocado, including oil made from the fruit. Avocado oil is a great source of vitamins, minerals and the type of fats associated with reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. But according to new research from food science experts at the University of California, Davis, the vast majority of avocado oil sold in the U.S. is of poor quality, mislabeled or adulterated with other oils.

Decoding Fat to Improve Human Health

There are good and bad fats, nutritionists say. But not all polyunsaturated fats, the so-called good fats, are created equal. CA&ES food chemist Ameer Taha is exploring whether eating too much linoleic acid—a type of polyunsaturated fat found mainly in vegetable oils and processed foods—can cause chronic inflammation, migraine headaches and other health problems.

The Lowdown on Home Food Fermentation

6 Tips for Home Food Fermentation 6 Tips for Home Food Fermentation

In California, fermented foods and beverages are especially trending with young people, and food safety specialist Erin DiCaprio said information is in demand.

“I get calls every day from people asking things like, ‘There’s a white film on top of my sauerkraut. Is it still safe to eat?’” DiCaprio said.

Keeping food safe from farm to table

Fun Fact

Do you know why it’s called iceberg lettuce? In 1926, Bruce Church—University of California graduate, farmer and founder of Fresh Express—developed a way to get his head lettuce from Salinas to the East Coast by loading the freshly-harvested crop in train cars and covering it with ice. As the lettuce-laden cars rolled into stations, folks would call out, “The icebergs are coming, the icebergs are coming.”

UC Davis Researchers Are Highly Cited

Sixteen UC Davis researchers have been named in the annual Highly Cited Researchers 2019 list released by the Web of Science Group, which compiles statistics on scientific publishing. The list identifies scientists and social scientists who have published multiple papers ranking in the top 1 percent by citations in a particular field and year, over a 10-year period. 

Citation counts represent how often a particular paper has been cited in other scientific publications. 

UC Davis researchers included in this year’s list are:

What Do I Need To Know About Food Recalls?

(Originally published in the fall/winter 2018-19 issue of UC Davis Magazine)

Romaine lettuce and leafy greens contaminated with E. coli. Eggs, raw chicken or turkey exposed to salmonella. Given frequent reports of food recalls, consumers may believe contaminations are on the rise in the United States.

Using the sun and agricultural residue to control pests

Biosolarization shows promise for conventional and organic farmers

Farmers spend a lot of time and money controlling weeds and other pests, and often have to turn to chemical fumigants to keep the most destructive pests at bay. Farmers also wrestle with what to do with low-value byproducts of crop production, such as skin, seeds and hulls from fruit, vegetable and nut processing.

What if those agricultural waste streams could generate alternatives to chemical fumigants and make farming more productive, profitable and environmentally friendly?