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quantitative
Analysis v1
Supported

Even healthy-seeming oils like avocado oil can break down into harmful stuff when heated because they have too much of a fragile kind of fat.

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Pro
3
Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (3)

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Community contributions welcome

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Impact of Heating Temperature and Fatty Acid Type on the Formation of Lipid Oxidation Products During Thermal Processing

Cross-Sectional Study
In Vitro
2022

The study found that oils with lots of polyunsaturated fats (like soybean oil) create more harmful chemicals when heated, even before they start smoking, while oils with fewer of these fats don’t produce as much.

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Comparison of Furans Formation and Volatile Aldehydes Profiles of Four Different Vegetable Oils During Thermal Oxidation.

Cross-Sectional Study
In Vitro
2019 Jul

Scientists heated different cooking oils and found that oils with lots of certain healthy fats (polyunsaturated fats) produced harmful chemicals when cooked—even without smoking. This matches the claim that these oils can become dangerous when heated.

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Controlled formation of characteristic aroma compounds induced by added seasonings during electromagnetic cooking of braised pork: Weakened lipid oxidation and accelerated Maillard reaction

Cross-Sectional Study
In Vitro
2025 Dec 15

The study found that fats with certain unsaturated fats (like those in pork) break down into harmful chemicals when heated, but adding spices can slow this down—proving that these fats can indeed go bad during cooking even without smoking.

Contradicting (1)

3

Community contributions welcome

3

Effect of cooking temperature and time on the quality and safety of hemp seed oil.

Cross-Sectional Study
In Vitro
2025 Feb

Even when heated pretty hot, hemp oil didn’t turn harmful like the claim says it should—so the claim might be too broad or wrong.

Similar Assertions

Oils with polyunsaturated fatty acid content exceeding 10% are susceptible to thermal oxidation during cooking, generating cytotoxic aldehydes and lipid peroxides.

6
0
91%

The kind of fat in an oil—like how much linolenic, linoleic, or oleic acid it has—decides what chemicals are made when you heat it up, and how much of them.

4
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77%

When you heat different cooking oils really hot for a long time, they break down and make harmful chemicals, and the type of oil you use determines which chemicals are made.

4
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76%

When you cook with certain plant oils like sunflower or soybean oil, even at normal cooking temps that aren’t hot enough to make them smoke, they can break down into harmful chemicals — and if you heat them for 30 minutes straight, those harmful chemicals become ten times more toxic.

6
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75%

When you fry food over and over again, some cooking oils break down faster than others—oils with more saturated fats (like coconut or palm oil) hold up better and make fewer harmful gunk particles than oils with lots of unsaturated fats (like sunflower or olive oil).

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75%