The “Made with Avocado Oil” label has been showing up more and more in supermarket aisles. You find it on products like chips, mayonnaise, and salad dressings. They are sold at premium prices because of the perception that, for example, avocado oil chips are healthier than chips made the old-fashioned way with other types of oils and fats. But, the study found, what you see is seldom what you get.

In the audio clip above, Selina Wang, professor of Cooperative Extension in the UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology tells WGN’s Steve Alexander that she and her team tested 54 avocado oil-labeled products, and 48 of them were adulterated with cheaper oils. The study was published in Applied Food Research. 

Wang says it isn’t really a food safety concern, although for people who are avoiding soybean, sunflower or other types of oils in favor of avocado oil, it can lead to problems. It is, she says, economic fraud. “Consumers are paying extra for something they believe is better for them.” Offenders include some of the biggest brands and food companies out there. Wang says tortilla chips under Walmart’s bettergoods label, contained zero avocado oil. Soybean oil instead. Here’s the full list and scores:

Per Wang’s study: Researchers purchased the products in 2025 and 2026 from online retailers and California stores. They represent only a portion of the avocado oil processed food market.

“Consumers are increasingly paying a premium for products made with avocado oil or olive oil,” said lead author  “They deserve to get what they pay for and food manufacturers deserve confidence that the ingredients they purchase from suppliers are authentic.”

Researchers found that of the products tested, 93% of chips, 71% of mayonnaises and 100% of salad dressings labeled as authentic avocado oil contained other oils. By contrast, when researchers applied the same purity tests to 20 olive oil-labeled processed foods, only one failed. 

The gap between avocado and olive oil results reflects the fact that olive oil authenticity has been studied, tested and scrutinized for decades. Avocado oil is a relatively new and expensive product category and has not been monitored at the same level. As a result, consumers have less protection against misleading labels.

A 2020 study found 82% of commercial bottled avocado oil were either rancid or mixed with other oils. A later study found 70% of private label oils were rancid or adulterated.

Researchers measure fatty acids and sterols — chemical “fingerprints” unique to each oil — to verify authenticity.  One potential concern is that processing, such as deep frying, blending or emulsifying, can change those chemical fingerprints. Wang’s team tested that directly and found fatty acids and sterols changed minimally. The study also used conservative criteria when evaluating authenticity. 

“In our experience, we’ve noticed natural variables, such as geographic origin and avocado variety, can change these fingerprints,” said Wang. “So we gave the samples some wiggle room, giving them a 10% margin of deviation to account for that, but 89% of the avocado products still failed.”

Wang said brands whose products failed may not know they are using adulterated oil. Many food companies source their oils from third-party brokers or from several different suppliers. Without rigorous testing, food companies may never detect adulterated oil. Wang said the adulteration likely originates with oil suppliers.

“If consumers are buying potato chips that say they’re made with 100% avocado oil, that should be the product that they’re getting,” noted Wang. “I don’t think there is enough accountability throughout the supply chain. Suppliers of adulterated oil may be hiding behind a couple of layers of supply chain, making it difficult to identify where the problem originated.” 

Wang said at the same time, food companies could do more to monitor and verify the authenticity of the oil they purchase.

Consumers face the same outcome either way: They pay premium prices for products that aren’t what they claim to be. Avocado oil products in the study were priced comparably to olive oil products or higher — yet olive oil products were overwhelmingly pure while avocado oil products were overwhelmingly not.

Three families of women farmers are being honored by Illinois Agri-Women as Legacy Farm Family winners for 2026. At a ceremony in Bloomington-Normal on August 21st, the Schultz/Miller family, which farms in northwest Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and central Iowa will be honored as the first place winner. In the audio clip below, two generations of women from the family talk with WGN’s Steve Alexander about the importance of women farmers.

The second place Legacy Farm Family winner is the Green family of Heritage Family Farms in Arthur, Illinois. In the audio clip below, grandmother and granddaughter farmers tell about their family’s farming corn and soybean operation that goes back to 1902.

The third-place honorees are the O’Bryan family in Grants Pass, Oregon.

You can read about all three families and learn more about Illinois Agri-Women and the big event on August 21st at https://illinoisagriwomen.org/illinois-agri-women-introduces-legacy-farm-family-winners/.

Our gardening guru Jim Fizzell has plenty to say in this extended version of “Mr. Fizz Friday” about things to do during August to repair damage to your lawn, or start over.

Gardening guru Jim Fizzell, aka “Mr. Fizz,” has the birds and bees and the flower and the trees on his mind. It’s pollination time in our gardens. Specifically, as University of Illinois Extension describes it, the male reproductive part of a flower, stamens, consisting of a stalk-like filament topped with an anther that produces pollen. On the female side, the pistil, which sits in the center of the flower, is made up of three parts: the sticky stigma to catch pollen, the style tube, and the ovary containing ovules. Ordinarily, honey bees do the majority of pollinating but, as Mr. Fizz tells WGN’s Steve Alexander in the clip above, he’s concerned about a shortage of honey bees this summer.

When Dana Cree decided to open an ice cream shop, she went on Kickstarter and immediately had to make a decision: what to name it. In the audio clip above, she tells WGN’s Steve Alexander, “The first question was ‘Tell us a little about yourself,’ and I wrote, ‘My name is Dana Cree and I make pretty cool ice cream,’ and I was, like, oh my god, that’s the name!”

The backstory to Pretty Cool Ice Cream is pretty cool itself. Dana had been a James Beard-level pastry chef for more than 20 years when she wrote the book, “Hello, My Name is Ice Cream.” She knew she wanted to open an ice cream shop and while on book tour, she visited every shop she could to try to find her door in, what would be a good fit. “I thought I would be opening an ice cream shop similar to Jenny’s, but one that would bring the recipes from the book to life. But instead, I found the equipment that makes ice cream bars and popsicles and just fell in love with the format.” So, a year later, in 2018, she opened Pretty Cool Ice Cream. It is not your typical scoop shop. Nearly everything is on a stick, or in bar form.

Another piece to Dana’s backstory is her discovery that after all those years working with pastries, she was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. “That made it very hard to work in the Publican Bakery, and very easy to fall into ice cream.” And, no surprise, everything at Pretty Cool Ice Cream is gluten free.

She estimates she has created more than 300 flavors, but at any one time customers can find some really creative work, “like turning a Wilco song into ice cream, (Infinite Surprise) or translating the awe and wonder of Nick Cave’s Soundsuits into an ice cream experience. And turning all of the sides from Thanksgiving dinner into ice cream flavors.”

Really? Like what?

“Like green bean casserole, and cornbread stuffing, and sweet potato casserole.” She walked me through the green bean casserole. “We made a porcini mushroom ice cream that was delicious, and then in the white chocolate shell we put a hint of cheddar, and then we found these dried, crispy green beans that are a snack, but they’re so lovely–they almost have a green tea flavor–and we sprinkled those over the top with just a hint of the onions, and it was good. One food writer said it was so good that Dana Cree’s palate should be insured!”

Aside from those collaborations and special occasion concoctions, her goal is simple: “We really just want to hit big, fat home runs with our flavors. We’re not necessarily trying to shock everybody. So while those gain a lot of traction for their shock value, behind that are five flavors that could be anybody’s favorite, like a s’mores bar that has toasted marshmallow ice cream inside, or our peanut butter potato chip.”

While nearly everything is on a stick, you’ll occasionally find pints for sale. “Our last collaboration was with Eli’s Cheesecake, so we turned their frozen cheesecake on a stick into pints of ice cream.”

She describes the collaborations as a way to connect with other people in the community. “You can live in a vacuum when you work in a kitchen, and it’s really opened up my life and my heart and hopefully that of our guests to all of these other wonderful things happening in the community, and working with other creatives has been so satisfying.”

It’s been satisfying to the community, too. “We try to keep a monthly community support flavor on the menu, in which we collaborate with another creative in the community… and then we pick a local grassroots organization to support. We can raise about $500, which is just a drop in the bucket for a lot of these large, wonderful charities, but for some of the smaller ones, it’s a lot of money.” She gave an example. “We found an organization in Chicago that provides money for transportation, so gas money or parking money or Uber money to families with children who are seeking cancer treatment. As a person, I can’t see myself curing cancer, but I can definitely see myself filling someone’s gas tank.”

You can see, and taste, how cool Dana’s ice cream is at California and Fullerton, right next to the post office.

Whether you eat it for breakfast or another meal, cereal is arguably the most popular item in the grocery store. The cereal aisle is big for a reason: Industry and government figures show Americans purchase roughly 2.5 billion boxes of cereal every year, which translates to roughly 10 to 14 pounds of cereal per person. 94% of Americans buy cereal at some point during the year, usually two boxes per trip. And we owe it all to an invention more than 120 years ago by a fellow in Battle Creek, Michigan, named Will Keith Kellogg.

It’s a fascinating history.

Will founded the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, which became the Kellogg company, and is now WK Kellogg Co. In the late 1800s, Will and his brother, John, ran a sanitarium in Battle Creek based on the health and dietary principles advocated by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. The brothers pioneered the process of making flaked cereal, which Will wanted to keep secret because of the commercial potential. But, John allowed anyone in the sanitarium to observe the flaking process and one sanitarium guest, C. W. Post, copied the process to start his own company. That company became Post Cereals and, later, General Foods. Will wasn’t happy about that and he left the sanitarium to start his own cereal company.

Today, the cereal company he founded is called WK Kellogg Co and is part of the giant Ferrero food company. In the audio clip above, Doug VanDeVelde, Chief Growth Officer at WK Kellogg, tells WGN’s Steve Alexander that “We really see ourselves as being in the business of joy. We’ve put the toys back in the box.” The original “happy meal,” if you think about it. (If you’re of a certain age, you may remember battles with siblings to see who got the toy first, or arguing with your mother about having to eat all the cereal before you could get down to where the toy was.) VanDeVelde said Kellogg’s newest initiative is SPOONS, an acronym designed to make it easier for cereal shoppers to find what they’re looking for:

S – Simple ingredients: VanDeVelde says many Kellogg’s cereals are made with ingredients you’d find in your pantry – cooked in a similar way you’d make grains at home, just in larger batches! In fact, 75% of Kellogg’s cereals are simply puffed, toasted, flaked or shredded.

P – Protein: He says adding milk to cereal brings grains and protein together to offer an easy, effective solution for building meals to help manage hunger and support wellness. VanDeVelde points to a study showing a bowl of cereal and milk has as much protein as an egg.

O – Outstanding fiber: VanDeVelde points out surveys showing nearly 95% of people don’t get enough fiber. He says WK Kellogg has more than 140 options that have 3-17g per serving.

O – Other nutritious foods: Cereal makes it easy to create balanced meals, bringing whole grains, fruit and dairy together to give people choices they can feel good about.

N – Nutrients you need: WK Kellogg says cereal provides essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients – such as fiber, whole grains, iron and folate – that most people don’t get enough of in their daily diet. Add milk and there is the added benefit of calcium and vitamin D.

S – Single-digit sugars: Often criticized for its sugar content, especially cereals marketed to kids, WK Kellogg points out that nearly half of its cereals have 10 grams or less of added sugar per serving, including a new lower-sugar option for Frosted Flakes.

SPOONS will be applied to classic brands, including Kellogg’s All-Bran, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats, Kellogg’s Raisin Bran and Kellogg’s Rice Krispies throughout the United States.

In the audio clip above, Jim Fizzell, our WGN gardening guru of more than 60 years, tells Steve Alexander that an important piece of equipment needed for successful gardening is a spiral notebook. And a pen or pencil.

It’s vacation season for a lot of us, and in the audio clip above, Mr. Fizz, gardening guru Jim Fizzell, has tips for making sure that when you get back, your houseplants, garden plants, lawn, trees, cats, and dogs are in good shape.

College isn’t for everyone, and some Chicago high school students are now getting the opportunity to get started in a well-paying job as a forklift driver. In the audio clip above, Olive-Harvey College President, Dr. Kimberly Hollingsworth, tells WGN’s Steve Alexander that for the first time, a credit course is being offered at its satellite campus in South Chicago, featuring an inaugural dual-credit class for students from George Washington High School. She says the intensive 3.5-day program prepares students to become safe and effective forklift operators, opening doors to higher skilled jobs. She says students are taught foundational theory followed by practical, hands-on forklift training on-site that can immediately unlock jobs in big warehouses like Amazon, UPS, Coyote Logistics, Walmart, Pepsico and more.

Hollingsworth adds, “This expansion directly aligns with our mission to create clear, accessible pathways to high-demand careers for students. By offering hands-on training right here in our community, we are equipping young people with the credentials and college credits they need to thrive in Chicago’s transportation, distribution, logistics and manufacturing sectors.” Upon completing the course, students will earn a basic certificate from Olive-Harvey College at no cost to them or their families.

Later this summer, the Forklift Operation program will be open to the general public. This class qualifies as Future Ready(www.ccc.edu/futureready), an initiative that helps eligible Chicagoans prepare for in-demand careers at no cost. For more information call 312-COLLEGE or visit www.ccc.edu. 

And President Hollingsworth walks, or rather drives, the talk. She is forklift certified through the Olive-Harvey College program. “It’s a little unnerving trying to pick those pallets up and put them on a shelf 50 or 60 feet above you. It can be a little daunting, but it is fun!”

Without agriculture, there’d be no FIFA World Cup games at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The natural grass turf, installed just for the World Cup, is one example. Another example is in the stands. Thanks to farmers, a company called PlantSwitch has replaced cups and lids and utensils made with petroleum with a plastic made only from byproducts of farming. The stuff that blows out the back of a combine during harvest? PlantSwitch uses that to create 100 percent compostable items for fans to use when they’re eating and drinking.

In the audio clip above, PlantSwitch CEO Dillon Baxter tells WGN’s Steve Alexander the company’s circular process starts at the farm and ends back at the farm. It takes those field leftovers and turns them into a bio-resin, which is then converted into cups, straws, cutlery, stirrers–all the items typically made with petroleum plastic. Once used, the products go back into compost, leaving zero waste and zero microplastics. Even if the user is a litterbug, the items naturally decompose where they land. Unlike other plastic alternatives that require industrial composting, PlantSwitch’s CompostZeroTM actually biodegrades in nature. And it will fully break down in a backyard compost bin. Baxter says performance of his products is better, too: no spoons or forks melting in hot food or snapping in two. And, for the eco-conscious user, no guilt because there are no microplastics going into the body or being left behind in composting.

PlantSwitch is attracting a lot of attention. It has raised 28 million dollars, including a recent $17 million Series A funding round, and is scaling up to be a major player in the sector. Baxter, himself, is getting a lot of attention, too. He was listed on Forbes 30 Under 30 CEO list. Co-founded with Maxime Blandin,PlantSwitch has partnered with clients such as Taylor Farms, Elon Musk’s Starlink, Live Nation, and, a mentioned above, SoFi Stadium.