The Cooking Oil That Landed Aldi In A Lawsuit For False Advertising

Aldi is beloved for its famously low prices, which have earned it the distinction of being the most affordable grocery store in the country, on average. But a major reason it's able to keep prices so low is its no-frills approach. As much as Aldi has stripped away the glamour of grocery shopping with its plain-Jane warehouse aesthetic and lack of bells and whistles, the store has also caught heat for lack of transparency. 

In 2025, Aldi Inc. was caught mislabeling bottles of Simply Nature "100% pure avocado oil" as such, when the oil was found to actually contain a couple of other, cheaper oils, making the "pure" claim totally invalid. That's according to a class action lawsuit filed earlier this year, citing independent testing done at a lab at the University of California, Davis that indeed found oleic sunflower and safflower oils in the bottle. 

Nothing's inherently wrong with these other oil types. In fact, sunflower and safflower oils are two great neutral oils that don't add much flavor to dishes. And Aldi is far from the only offender. Studies have found that a shocking 82% of store-bought avocado oils are adulterated with oils from sources other than avocado. While the problem of diluted avocado oil isn't a unique one to Aldi, the retailer was singled out in this lawsuit for the sin of false advertising.  

Oil is a serious buzzword these days among foodies and the health conscious, and it's received a lot of attention and scrutiny. Though the anti-seed oil trend has largely been debunked by health professionals as just another internet fad (looking at you, raw milk), that hasn't stopped people from caring more about the quality of their oil. Trends aside, there's no excuse for false advertising. Maggie Frost, who officially sued the grocery giant, alleged the product was misleading to consumers. The class-action lawsuit against Aldi was filed in late 2024 as "Frost v. Aldi Inc."

Aldi Inc. agreed in a New York state court in September of 2025 to a settlement, without many details of the settlement made public. It's unclear what's next for consumers, and if Aldi will change the product or its labeling. Regardless of which avocado oil you choose to buy — and whether it's pure or not so much — adhere to best storage practices to prolong your oil's shelf life. Be sure to keep it away from sunlight and tucked away in a cool, dark pantry.