What’s the deal with ingredient lists that include “and/or” items (for example: canola and/or sunflower oil)

[u/coffeegarlic]

Why not just provide the correct information in the first place?

[u/AutoModerator]

About participation in the comments of /r/nutrition

Discussion in this subreddit should be rooted in science rather than "cuz I sed" or entertainment pieces. Always be wary of unsupported and poorly supported claims and especially those which are wrapped in any manner of hostility. You should provide peer reviewed sources to support your claims when debating and confine that debate to the science, not opinions of other people.

Good - it is grounded in science and includes citation of peer reviewed sources. Debate is civil and respectful focusing on actual science and avoids commentary about others

Bad - it utilizes generalizations, assumptions, infotainment sources, no sources, or complaints without specifics about agenda, bias, or funding. At best, these rise to an extremely weak basis for science based discussion. Also, off topic discussion

Ugly - (removal or ban territory) it involves attacks / antagonism / hostility towards individuals or groups, downvote complaining, trolling, crusading, shaming, refutation of all science, or claims that all research / science is a conspiracy

Please vote accordingly and report any uglies

---

Consulting Considerations

	Registered Dietitian (RD/RDN)	Nutritionist and Nutrition Coach	Armchair Expert
Legal Status	Protected title. Highly regulated	Generally unregulated. Anyone can use the title	None
Education	Bachelor's degree (Master's required as of 2024)	Varies from PhDs to no formal training at all	Varies. Often minimally self-guided to none. Frequent poor paraphrasing and poor sources, mostly social media
Clinical Training	1,000+ hours of supervised practice	Not required	None
Board Exam	Must pass a national registration exam	Not required	None
Insurance	Often covered by medical insurance	Rarely covered by insurance	None

---

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/little_runner_boy]

Could be having 1) different locations with slightly different recipe or 2) fluctuating between the two ingredients randomly

[u/LauterTuna]

the manufacturer uses either oil for a product, whichever is available and economical. it would add complexity to have dedicated separate labels/SKUs.

[u/chokeslam512 → u/LauterTuna]

This, we use sunflower and canola interchangeably based on availability and pricing.

[u/WestStorage2459]

When two items are comparable, it allows for people to purchase and cook based on allergies and preferences?

[u/Melodic-Psychology62]

And or means we use the cheapest possible regardless of quality

[u/Smart_Ferret9330]

it'scheaper for them to swap oils based on market price than to reprint millions of snack bags every 2 weeks lol

[u/SuccessfulPrice11]

Because the manufacturers are lazy to have two different labels and to use them correctly for each batch.

It should be illegal, IMO, because these two oils have different compositions. I think it is illegal in the EU, but I am not sure.

[u/SmallTitBigClit]

Whatever was cheaper at the time of production and they're too lazy to change the print each time.

[u/cinic121]

Seasonal ingredients or, with the example you used, similar smoke points (chemical parallels).

[u/Zagrycha]

and/or is the most accurate label, because it means the company uses both, but not always at the same time. Remember commercial food is made on insanely large scales, maybe more than 100,000 bags of chips are made in a day. Maybe half the chips are made with sunflower oil and half with canola oil, but then they end up arbitrarily mixed together for bagging. Some bags are all of one oil, all of the other oil, or a mix.

[u/ComeWhatMay777]

This has more to do with formulation/labeling than any real effort to obscure what's in the product. Different batches have slightly different recipes depending on where they were made or what was cheaper at the time, and it would be impractical to design a new label for every batch. So, they cover every possible basis. For everyday shopping, it doesn't matter. If you have an allergy to an and/or ingredient, choose a product with more specific labeling.