Is Your Olive Oil Really Olive Oil?
For thousands of years, humans have been picking, prizing, and pressing the fatty drupes found among the oblong leaves of the gnarled, twisted olive tree into rich, green-gold extra virgin olive oil. And for almost as many thousands of years, humans have been coming up with ways to fake it, to pass off cheaper, less delicious, less nutritious oils as the real thing. The earliest known written mention of olive oil – from Syria, 24 BC – describes how court-appointed inspectors would tour olive oil processing facilities to ensure quality, purity, and the absence of fraud. In ancient Rome, the vessels containing olive oil bore detailed information about the contents, including varietal of fruit used, place of origin, name of producer, the weight and quality of the oil, the name of the importer, plus the name of the official who inspected it and confirmed the previously mentioned data. Let’s just say they really, really liked their olive oil, and that olive oil adulteration has always been an issue.
It continues today, of course, and studies are bearing out the fact that extra virgin olive oil is often adulterated with cheaper, more refined, deodorized olive oils, oils from olives deemed unfit for human consumption, and/or random nut, seed, and vegetable oils spiked with chlorophyll and beta-carotene to replicate the authentic color. An Australian study found that over half the supermarket EVOO was anything but, even the supposedly legit stuff from the Mediterranean countries; New Zealand researchers had similar results with Mediterranean imports into their country. Last year, a University of California at Davis study (PDF) found that 69% of imported extra virgin olive oils failed to meet international standards, while 90% of California EVOO tested passed (the study was partially financed by major California olive oil producers, and producers of some of the failed imports are crying foul). Similar adulteration is taking place in China, where imported olive oil is mixed with cheap seed oils. In 2007, the New Yorker published a harrowing account of widespread and longstanding fraud in the Italian olive oil industry (“Profits were comparable to cocaine trafficking, with none of the risks”), and more recently, a study found that four out of five Italian olive oils were “debased.”
I’ve spent the last few years recommending that you eat extra virgin olive oil, and now it appears as if the fraud is pervasive enough to throw everything you thought you knew into a state of confusion. So what are you supposed to do? How do you know if your olive oil is actually olive oil?
The Fridge Test
By now, you’ve probably all heard about it: to test the legitimacy of a supposed olive oil, stick it in the fridge for a day or two. If it begins to solidify, you’ve got yourself a bottle of true extra virgin olive oil. Does it hold true?
Kinda.
Pure monounsaturated fat, also known as oleic acid, solidifies at 39 degrees F. Since olive oil is primarily oleic acid (about 70-85 percent, generally), sticking a bottle of real olive oil in the fridge should elicit solidification. The original olive oil adulterants, sunflower oil and safflower oil, were mostly polyunsaturated, so adulterating olive oil used to be easy to spot. Now, with high-oleic sunflower oil, high-oleic safflower oil, and high-oleic canola oil on the scene, adulterated olive oil can still solidify in the fridge. Thus, the fridge test is still a necessary, but not sufficient, test for the legitimacy of your extra virgin olive oil. It’s really a test for the degree of monounsaturation in the oils. It’s important (toss any oils that fail the test), but it’s not the full story.
The Taste Test
Good olive oil is often bitter, pungent, spicy, and slightly abrasive. It’s not always smooth and easy going. In fact, the “off-notes,” the intense flavors that make the uninitiated screw up their face actually indicate the presence of high levels of polyphenols, those antioxidant plant compounds which make olive oil so good for you. If the olive oil you taste burns the back of your throat and tastes funny to you, chances are you’ve been using and are used to adulterated (or at least non-virgin) oil.
To my knowledge, olive oil adulteration hasn’t progressed to the point where scammers are able to simulate the flavor of true EVOO. If they were to do it, I’d imagine they’d have to add polyphenols or olive extracts to the vegetable oils, and that can’t be cheap. And even if they did add olive extracts and synthetic polyphenols, it’d be better than having none at all.
Does It Matter?
Aside from being cheated out of your money for a disgustingly disappointing mix of soybean and canola oils, can any real health issues arise from consuming adulterated olive oils?
There are allergy concerns, of course, if the adulterant contains an allergen, like peanut oil. Owing to the similarity of its fatty acids to olive oil’s, hazelnut oil is another popular adulterant as well as a fairly common allergen, and one study even showed that people with hazelnut allergies could identify olive oil spiked with hazelnut oil because they suffered symptoms after eating it.
Another health issue that can arise from using adulterated olive oil is the one caused by excessive intake of omega-6 fats from the soybean, sunflower, safflower, canola, or any other cheap high-PUFA oil being added: generation of inflammatory eicosanoids, systemic inflammation, and oxidized blood lipids. Luckily, the fridge test is sufficient to ferret out PUFA-rich “olive oil” and prevent this from harming you.
Depending on the source and age of the adulterants (year old soybean oil, five month canola, etc), the once robust polyphenol profile of the starter extra virgin olive oil will have been severely diluted. And since the healthful, anti-inflammatory effects of olive oil can mostly be attributed to the polyphenols, olive oil adulterated with inferior, polyphenol-less oils will be less stable, more rancid, and more prone to oxidation. Oxidized oils are not very good for us; here’s why.
I’d say it does matter, and not just because of taste (as if “taste” isn’t reason enough). Here are my roughly recommended guidelines for choosing a good, real EVOO:
My best results have come with domestics – wherever I am. My favorite olive oil here in California is a California olive oil. The best Italian olive oil I ever had was in Italy. Same for Spanish olive oil. In all those studies referenced above, domestics seemed to win out. The NZ and Australian studies found that local oils bested the imports, just as the California study found that the top oils were from California. I’d imagine Italians like Italian olive oil and Spaniards like Spanish olive oil and so on and so forth because they’re not getting the imported, adulterated dregs.
You might have to spend a little money. Sure, I’ve made some good, affordable finds at Trader Joe’s in my day (including a $15 a liter bottle of spicy, unfiltered to the point of clogging the spout, lime green EVOO from Italy that appeared on the shelves for a month or two last year only to disappear before I could grab another bottle), but generally, I’ve gotten what I’ve paid for.
Do some tastings. Look for specialty shops or farmer’s market stands that allow and even encourage tastings of their olive oils. Take at least an ounce (the quarter teaspoon some places try to offer is way too meager to get an accurate reading), slurp it up, and swirl it around in your mouth like you’re trying to make a saliva-EVOO emulsification. Be obnoxious about it, even. But as you swallow the oil, relax and be ready to note the peppery polyphenol kick at the end, usually experienced at the back of your throat. Good EVOO should linger pleasantly in the mouth, even after it’s been swallowed.
Do the fridge test. Even though it won’t prove that your oil is pure, you’ll at least know that your EVOO wasn’t cut with PUFA-rich oils.
Avoid clear bottles. Although I’ve bought some fantastic olive oil from dedicated small-time producers that was stored in random glass jars, I usually opt for EVOO that comes in dark bottles or stainless steel containers. First reason being, light exposure oxidizes olive oil and degrades the polyphenol content. Second reason, most quality olive oil producers care about their product enough to ship it in suitable vessels.
Buy a winner. I always keep up with the latest winners of the Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition. Whenever I’ve tried one from the list of winners, I haven’t been disappointed. Here are some other lauded competitions.
Talk to people who know good olive oil. Talk to olive farmers at the farmers’ market who grow and pick and press and sell the stuff, talk to the mustachioed olive oil aficionado who owns the olive oil shop that you’ve never stopped in to see, talk to your friends who know about this sort of thing and splurge on olive oil all the time.
Ultimately, absent a team of sensory experts, access to gas chromatography equipment, and the ability to astrally project your soul backward through time to the time and place of the oil’s production, there’s no one way to tell, no grand, all knowing test. The closer you are to the proximate producer of the oil (buy “close to the mill”), the fewer times it changes hands before reaching yours, the “feeling” you get from sniffing the herbaceous fragrance, tasting the piquant fruitiness, the enjoyment you derive from it – this is how you determine the worth of your oil. It’s more art than science.
Thanks for reading, folks. Be sure to drop a link or reference to your personal favorite (or favorites) extra virgin olive oil, preferably one that’s widely available or available online, as well as your tips for finding a good brand.
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
I’ve had pretty good success with Capatriti Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Any info on organic olive oil vs non-organic ?
Is there a significant difference between the two ?
Great article! There is a typo though- the first mention of olive oil was in 2400 BC rather than 24 BC.
2400 BC? In Sumer?
Not entirely on-topic, but thought I should mention a yummy trick I learned this weekend: I peeled a whole head of garlic cloves, put in a saute pan and covered them with EVOO (Olave Brand, from Whole Foods). Heated for about 45 minutes, until the cloves were toasty brown on the outside. Pureed the cloves with some basil leaves to make a spread to put on some grilled salmon (YUM), but now I’ve got about 2 cups of the most delicious garlic olive oil!
For what its worth, the oil does solidify in the fridge; as far as I’m concerned, its so expensive, it had better be the real thing!!
In Exodus 30:24 the Hebrews used a hin of olive oil to make ‘a holy anointing oil’. The book of Exodus is dated by most experts to have taken place at about the 13th century B.C…..A LONG time before the written mention you’ve described from Syria. But hey, I just drove your point home even more!!
Keep up the great work!
The best EVOO I’ve had is from Kasandrinos Imports- they bring it to the US directly from Greece, pure and unadulterated. My friend’s family owns the company and the farms. It’s really amazing oil!!
http://www.kasandrinos.com
I appreciate the article, and I’ve been hoping to see something about this because I only recently heard about this problem; but you’re not really doing much to tell us how to find it, are you?
I mean, if the fridge test is inconclusive, and the taste test requires you to have had the “real thing” for comparison, and if we live in a region where olive trees don’t grow (like where I live) which rules out local produce, how do I find which shelf-brand to buy? :/
I think maybe the point was that residents of the US in general may be better off buying California olive oil (since there’s no such thing as local olive oil in Wyoming or Wisconsin) than oil from Spain, Italy, or Greece. In many cases, imported olive oils are sold in bulk to companies that just label and bottle, so there’s more possibility of oil being diluted with other non-olive oils. If you live in Italy or Spain, stick with olive oil made in your own country since it’s more likely that the fraud is taking place with stuff that’s being exported.
If anyone is interested in reading more about the olive oil subject –there is a great book written by Tom Mueller called, “Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil”. He gives a history of olive oil and explains many traditions as well as fradulent practices in his book. He also explains the high standards of true olive oil and gives some preferable brands.
Are organic versions a good option? Or are they tainted as well?
Anyone know of a good source in the UK?
I’ve just checked my huge Filippo Berrio, and it’s not good
elolivo-olive-oil.com
http://www.oliveology.co.uk
These are next on my list to try
So what is someone to do when you live in a small town in Nebraska? In my town we have a Wal-Mart, and two other grocery stores and I’m pretty sure none of them carry “local” olive oil. Is there maybe a choice that’s less evil than say the Wal-Mart brand, which I have by the way and says, Ingredients: Extra Virgin Olive Oil and that it’s a product of Greece, Italy, Spain, Tunisia… but distributed by Wal-Mart.
Amazon.com
Walmart’s Great Value brand of both ’100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil’ and the more refined ‘Pure Olive Oil’ easily solidify in the refrigerator. And they ranked surprisingly higher than many ‘quality’ name brands, in that California study. Since it’s not important to my self-perception to be hatin’ on Walmart, it’s a good, economical ‘everyday oil’, for me to use. Depending on your priorities, you might want to save more of a limited budget for organic veggies and grass-fed meats, and the occasional purchase of a very high-end EVOO, to be enjoyed as one would an expensive wine.
I thought good EVOO was supposed to have a slight burn in the back of the throat? Even one part of the article talks about a spicy taste to it.
I use Spectrum and it solidifies and leaves a slight kick at the end.
There’s a little winery in Arkansas called Raimondo’s, and they import olive oil from all over the world, depending on where it’s in season. They have a single varietal Picual olive oil right now that is amazing–peppery, grassy, and green. I’m pretty sure they have a website you can order from.
Looked up the website, and they even have information on the polyphenol content. Here’s the description, with a link at the end. I’ve been to the winery, but I have no other connection with them (besides being a proud Arkansan!).
Organic Picual Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Origin: Australia –By Cobram Estate, Boundary Bend Ltd
Crush Date: Early Harvest 2011 - April-May 2011
Flavor Intensity: Medium Intensity
Flavor: Green leaf aroma, strong hints of almond and fig and finishes with notes of avocado and unripe tomato
Suggested Uses - Picual Olive Oil will maintain flavor when cooked and is ideal for baking, sauce making or sautéing. It is also complex enough to be an exquisite dipping oil.
Awards: Best of Show, Best of Class, Gold Medal-LA International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition –Medium, Gold Medal-Medium
Chemistry: Crush Date: April-May 2011 - As measured at the time of crush.
Polyphenols: 105 — FFA: 0.1
Oleic Acid: 73.7 — Peroxide: 2.0
DAGs: 97.6 – PPP:
Fruitiness: 6.8, Bitterness: 3.0, Pungency: 3.5
Here’s the link: http://www.raimondowinery.com/cart/home/&cam=product_details&prod_id=42
I love Frantoia olive oil. Whenever I serve it, people go crazy over it and ask what kind it is (including Europeans who know their stuff).
It comes in a clear bottle, which surprises me. But through the glass you can see its beautiful color and incredible viscosity. It’s way better than many kinds I’ve had from tins.
I use Frantoya for pretty much everything. It’s especially good for dipping raw veggies in (you can pour some oil in a little bowl and sprinkle Herbs de Provence on top, for a festive look on a tray).
Sometimes I’ll chop up a bunch of radishes and toss them in a little Frantoia. It’s amazing how it mellows out the pepperiness of the radishes.
I love O & Co. olive oils too. There are boutiques throughout the world, so google to see if there’s one near you. Try the flavored olive oils – they’re yummy, you can sample them in the stores to decide which one(s) to buy. They come in little tins that fit well in the cabinet and make great gifts.
What about for those of us who can only stand the flavor of “light tasting” olive oil? Am I better off skipping it altogether? I’ve tried different kinds of what I thought was good olive oil over the years and to me, it all tastes awful!
Interesting article either way.
No, I wouldn’t skip it. The “light taste” oil has more of the greenish chlorophyll and other compounds refined out, but the basic oil remains, and is one of the “good oils”. The more refined oil may even be less susceptible to oxidation (so I read), since the chlorophyll is gone. I use both EVOO and the “light”, depending on whether the taste goes well with what I’m using it for.
You might be better off skipping it. Light olive oil is not EVOO. It usually means it is a refined oil. It is made from chemically extracting whatever is left from the olive paste/waste after the EVOO is extracted. Sometimes the olives are processed several times.
Light oils are also often mixed with seed oils.
Safeway Select brand Extra Virgin olive oil doesn’t pass the fridge test
Supposedly the business of debasing/adulterating European olive oil is more profitable than the cocaine trade in Europe – and with none of the risks! The New Yorker had a wonderful article about the scandal olive entitled Slippery Business that was later expanded into a book. I always buy Californian.
The taste test is hardly conclusive. Different oils have different flavor profiles. They are not always made from the same type of olives so comparisons are hard. Some are very spicy, bitter, and green while others are more golden, mellow, and buttery. All of them have a lot of flavor which cannot be said of the mass-produced neutral oils like soybean, cottonseed, or canola (or olive oil produced with heat and solvents, for that matter).
Whole Foods usually carries a variety of EVOO in bulk foods and you can taste them before you buy. I’ve been pretty pleased with the bulk oil I’ve purchased there and the price is pretty good.
I’ve been amazed at the different tasting oils we’ve produced using just the one variety of backyard olives.
If we pick early in the season, when the olives are quite green, the oil is much more grassy and has a really lovely, slightly bitter taste. It was only after a few years that we learnt we should pick our olives when they get a blush of pink colour. Then we get a lot more oil and still a lovely taste.
A lot of commercial producers leave their olives until they are a very dark colour. The flavour is more bland, and sometimes even rancid but the benefit for the producer is a much higher yield.
Also, we live in a very dry climate. Our oil is more flavoursome in dry years. The last few years we’ve had a wet summer and while we’ve had more olives, we’ve also had a more mild taste.
And that’s all just within one single variety of olives. There are a lot of different varieties.
And many producers blend different varieties. For example, they blend the variety we grow, Verdale, because of the exceptional taste. But it is unprofitable to just sell Verdale because it doesn’t produce much oil.
There is a lot to consider. As mentioned earlier, I’d had some of our oil in the fridge for 6 hours and so far it is still solid.
oops, still *liquid* is what I meant to say.
such great info as i’ve often wondered what kind of quality (or lack thereof) i am getting in the olive oil that i buy.
There is a store that sells Olive Oil and Vinegar at the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake City, that I discovered last month. They have a shop in Park City also. I make my salad dressing with the oil and different balsamic vinegars daily. I only make enough dressing for that day. I had a BBQ last month and made some oil/vinegar dressing and some creamy “ranch”. The ranch wasn’t touched but I had to make more oil/vinegar. I grew up in Northern CA with Olives and I love their olive oil. You can buy it here in Utah. Lovely taste. Sharon, you can try finishing your eggs, meat or veggies with olive oil. Wonderful taste to the meal.
Highly recommend Katz & Company in California. They make their own olive oils and there’s lots of information on the site about the olives they use, how they make it, etc.
All the oils I’ve tried from them have been wonderful, especially the Meyer Lemon when they have it. They also offer great artisan-made vinegars.
Shipping is reasonable, you can order online or by phone. They also have a shop on Local Harvest.
Temecula Olive Oil Compnay makes great olive oil. They have stores in southern California and online ordering. http://www.temeculaoliveoil.com/
According to this website provided by MDA Kirkland Organic is one of the best:
http://olivecenter.ucdavis.edu/news-events/news/files/olive%20oil%20final%20071410%20.pdf?bcsi_scan_C56E0587B373D06D=0&bcsi_scan_filename=olive%20oil%20final%20071410%20.pdf
I noticed that, too. Sure, the bottle’s clear, but my pantry’s dark and I love the taste of this stuff. Can’t beat the price if you’re a Costco member, either!
Olive oil goes back even further than Syria in 24 BC…Moses was writing about using it in ceremonies about 1400 years before that!
I buy California Olive Ranch olive oil (which has won some serious awards in olive oil tastings). Wowza! Good, good stuff. Even better, Costco is selling it now in a two pack.
I love Olive oil! I use it for every thing. Cooking,backing,sunscreen,babys skin, soap making. Even to keep the fleas off the chickens. The doctor even recominded it for a lice treatment. Olive oil is the only oil in the house
Be wary of the stores that sell from the silver tanks. That oil gets repacked 3-4 times before it gets to your bottle.
True. Local is definitely best. The oil I’ve had in Italy is unbelievable and the one in Spain to die for.
GO BEYOND THE LABEL!!>>>>
EVOO organic unfiltered raw…When ya bite it…it’s supposed to bite back!>>>
Spicypepperysmooth!!…GROK
The main thing is to make sure that it says “extracted by MECHANICAL means” on the bottle. This means that the olives were pressed and centrifuged to get the oil out, as opposed to using a chemical solvent to extract the oil.